


You're Mine

by CrashingStar



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Female Tommy Oliver, Fluff, Hell of a load of fluff, Or my version of a slow burn, Zack Taylor & Trini are Bros, probably a slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-11-15 20:53:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11238975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrashingStar/pseuds/CrashingStar
Summary: Ever since Trini became the Yellow Ranger, she had never felt more confident in herself than she did when she wearing that armor. Unfortunately, she couldn't wear it when she walked the corridors of High School.For Kimberly, it was the complete opposite. Kimberly knew who she was and what she was capable of, which is why it made it impossible to feel as if she deserved to be the Pink Ranger. She certainly thought she didn't.Both girls realize how desperate they are to protect each other and come to terms with their own feelings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to take a chance at writing some Trimberly because I love them so much and then this happened. I hope you all like it :D
> 
> Warning for this chapter: Homophobia

Trini wouldn’t consider herself to be a fighter.

 

In fact, she liked to try and avoid all confrontation if possible. It was different when she was wearing her ranger armor or when she was down in the pit. It was in those moments where she didn’t feel like Trini, an insecure loner, but instead, she felt like the Yellow Power Ranger, strong and confident. For once, Trini actually felt comfortable in her own skin. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be the Yellow Ranger during High-School. There, she disappears into the crowd, desperate to become invisible. Most of the time Trini is. She sits at the back of class, doesn’t attend school events, if anyone was asked if they knew who Trini was they would ask who the hell was that and that was exactly how Trini liked it.

 

She started to become less invisible, however, the more she hung out with the other Rangers. Apparently being friends with the former quarterback, an ex –cheerleader and the smartest kid in school, really did bring attention to her. Quite often it was unwanted attention and it was those moments where all Trini wanted to do was run away from it all. Maybe she should do what Zack does most days and that's just not to go. It would make things a lot easier.

 

However, she found it really hard to care that people were staring at her when she sat with Billy at his table in the library or when Jason decided to sit next to her in History, and she found it especially hard to care when Kimberly walked with her in the corridor, close enough that their fingers occasionally brushed. Trini knew that she would suffer through hundreds of stares and pointless conversations if it meant her other friends were safe and happy. She didn’t know when this fierce need to protect them occurred, maybe it was when Billy died or that night around the campfire. No matter when it happened, Trini would lay down her life for the other Rangers during an invasion but she wasn’t certain that she had the courage to defend them during school. Without her armor, she felt helpless and Trini hated it.

 

The only people that knew about Trini’s sexuality and actually accepted her were the Rangers, and she couldn’t be more thankful that they did. It made accepting herself a hell of a lot easier. Zack would show her pictures of girls that he thought were cute and asked if she agreed with him, at first, she wouldn’t say anything to him, but eventually, Trini got more comfortable with it and eventually started initiating it herself much to the delight of Zack. Billy gave her a long speech about how happy he was for her with Jason standing beside him, smiling warmly at her. She’ll never admit how it brought a couple of tears to her eyes, and Trini doesn’t think she could love them more than she did in that moment.

 

But what made Trini feel more loved than she ever had done in her life was when Kimberly found out. Her eyes had softened as she stared at Trini, before wrapping her in a tight hug before she could complain. At first, Trini’s body was tense, it was the first time that anyone had properly hugged her in a long time and she instantly caved into the touch, her own arms wrapping around Kimberly’s waist as she buried her face into her shoulder. They never said anything about in the days that followed but Trini didn’t mind, no words needed to be said. It was perfect the way it was.

 

They were her family. A completely weird and mismatched family, but that made it even better. Which is why it couldn’t be any of them that outed her to the entire school. All five of them could keep a secret.

 

So, when Trini walked into school alone on Wednesday morning, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. The whispering and muttering that had finally died down had sparked back up again and it was targeted towards her. Trini immediately knew what happened. Her secrets out. The entire school knows she’s a lesbian. Her grip tightened on her backpack as she walked through the hallway, trying her hardest to keep her head held high. She can’t let them see how it affects her. She’s the Yellow Power Ranger for fucks safe. But when she heard the soft giggling and the pointing from a couple of cheerleaders that were leaning against the locker, Trini knew that psyching herself up was useless. She was just plain old Trini, whose worst fear had just come true.

 

“Don’t go to your locker!” Billy appeared in front of her, his face scrunched up in concern and Trini’s heart drops. She has a good guess about what had happened to her locker. She had seen what had happened to Kimberly’s locker, seen the hurt on her face as she read the words that were written. Trini could only imagine what were written on hers.

 

“Billy it’s fine,” Trini mumbled, moving past him. She hoped that he wouldn’t follow her, she knew that there would be a crowd gathered around her locker just waiting to see her reaction. Billy, sweet and caring Billy didn’t need to see that.

 

He followed her anyways saying things in an attempt to stop her but she didn’t hear any of it. All she could hear was the pounding of her blood in her ears, and the tightening in her chest had gotten worse.

 

Trini pushed through the crowd, her hands slightly shaking. _Fuck Off You Mexican Dyke_ was written in bright red marker in the middle of her locker and Trini stopped breathing. She has had countless nightmares about this scenario before. The words were always different, the people were always different but the laughing and the pointing were the same and so was the feeling that her heart had stopped working.

 

She felt Billy tugging restlessly at her wrist, he hated being the centre of attention just as much as she did. “Trini let’s just go to class.” Trini tore her hand away, and took two steps towards her locker, releasing a shaky breath.

 

A hand slammed into her locker beside her head, and Trini looked over to see Amanda smirking smugly at her. Well, it looks like Trini had just found who defaced her locker. “I want you to get out of this school, Perv.” She spat, and Trini hated how small she suddenly felt. Amanda was a couple of inches taller than she was, leaving Trini to stare up at her. Her eyes emotionless, she refused to let these people see what she’s really thinking.

 

“Get out of my way,” Trini said through gritted teeth. All she wanted was to grab her books and head to class, pretending that none of this was happening.

 

“Do you stare at all the girls in the changing room during Gym or just a select few?” Amanda taunted. Trini’s fist clenched tightly at her side. Ever since she was questioning about the fact that she liked girls, she always made sure that her head was down during that time. She had always been so careful about that. “C’mon Dyke, spill!”

 

She could do it. She could punch Amanda right in the face and probably break her nose. She could fight every single person that is laughing at her right now, and God did she want to. As if sensing that she was going to do something stupid, Billy launched himself in front of, starring Amanda in the face.

 

“Leave my friend alone.” He told her, trying to make his voice sound confident but Trini could see him wringing his hands nervously behind his back.

 

Amanda’s cold eyes snapped towards Billy, “Oh look, a Dyke and a Freak. The two of you could be the main attraction in a Freak Show Circus.” There was a roar of laughter and Trini felt her face heat up with either rage or humiliation.

 

“Why would we join a circus?” Billy asked, tilting his head in confusion.

 

She scoffed, pushing Billy back into the locker, “God you really are a freak! What the hell is wrong with you?”

 

Billy tried to push himself off the lockers but whenever he achieved it, Amanda just pushed him again and again. “Can you please stop touching me.” He asked but he was ignored and Trini could feel her anger rising. They could do whatever they wanted to her. She had come to expect the hateful comments that she had spent years putting up her barriers so that she seemed untouchable. But she wouldn’t let anybody hurt her friends, they were her family and Trini loved all of them.

 

Trini tried not to be much of a fighter, yet that didn’t stop her from stepping forward and shoving Amanda away from Billy and into a bunch of jocks. Her breathing was heavy as she took a threatening step forward. “Don’t touch him!”

 

“Couldn’t wait to get your hands on me could you Dyke?” Amanda sneered but there was a slight hesitation in her eyes. Trini had only used a small percentage of her super strength but it was more than enough to but Amanda on edge.

 

Suddenly a new voice had entered the crowd, “I had seen what you had to offer and nobody would want to touch that.” Trini’s eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw Kimberly standing beside her. Kim’s voice was icy and a shiver went through Trini’s spine at the sound of it. Trini had never seen Kim this angry before, it was kind of terrifying.

 

Amanda’s face paled, “Are you protecting your Dyke girlfriend?”

 

Kimberly’s eyes flashed dangerously, “I’m protecting both of my friends from an insecure, homophobic cunt like you,” Kim stepped towards her, jabbing a finger in Amanda’s chest, her voice low and threatening, “If I ever see you near Billy or Trini again then it won’t just be your nudes that get accidentally leaked.”

 

Kimberly grabbed a hold of Trini’s hand and dragged her through the crowd, Billy hurrying along after them. Kimberly didn’t say anything, but the tight grip she had on Trini’s hand meant that she needed to calm down. Her blood still boiling over what had happened.

 

“Kim?” Trini asked the silence that was radiating from the other girl had started to unnerve her. She wasn’t used to Kimberly not talking, that was usually her thing and it was Kim that filled the silence with mindless chatter that Trini listened to with a fond smile. “Kimberly, it’s okay.”

 

Kimberly spun around to face Trini, her jaw clenched and her eyes alight with fury, “It’s okay? Okay? How can you even say that Trini? Did you not read the crap that they wrote on your locker? It’s absolutely disgusting. I-I…” Kimberly's voice quietened and Trini’s eyes softened as she stared at the other girl.

 

“Kim, I’m okay. Those words don’t mean shit,” Trini said, squeezing Kimberly’s hand. What she said was a lie, but she wasn’t going to let Kim know that, “All that matters, is that we have each other’s backs.” There was a lot more that Trini wanted to say, she could feel it clawing its way up her throat but it wasn’t the right time to say the things that Trini had yet to understand.

 

They stared at each other for a moment, and Trini was slowly getting lost in Kim’s eyes. They were no longer cold, but instead, they were filled with a light that Trini couldn’t understand yet it felt as if a fire had been lit inside of her stomach. Kim didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around Trini’s neck and pull her in close, Trini’s arms immediately wrapping around Kimberly’s waist.

 

“I promise that nobody is going to hurt you or make you feel crap because of your sexuality,” Kim whispered in her ear, her breath hot against the side of Trini’s cheek, “I’m going to protect you.” Trini just nodded against Kimberly’s bright pink t-shirt and let herself succumb into Kim’s warmth, forgetting about Amanda and the red pen on her locker.

 

* * *

 

 

She had a lot of pent up aggression built up over the past week, and she smashed puttie after puttie with little to no restraint. Trini didn’t care that her body had slowly become weak, and her skin was now decorated with bruises. She had to hit something other than the kids at her school or her insufferable parents. It had been a really tough week.

 

Kim had stayed true to her word. The girl barely left Trini’s side, and when she did leave to go to a different class Kimberly gave a glare that slightly intimidated Trini to every other student in the classroom. If it was anybody else then Trini would have already become irritated by it, she would have told them to leave her alone but in much more brash terms. But this was Kimberly, and she did it with a softness that caused Trini’s heart to flutter. Something that it had never done before. It was when Kimberly held her hand under their lunch table, running her thumb gently along the back of her hand, or when she waited outside of Trini’s last class of the day to walk home together. None of them brought up the locker incident, not even the boys but Trini could tell that it was still fresh in everybody’s mind. They look at her differently now, their eyes cautious and sympathetic whilst they wait for her to break. Because that’s what they would usually expect in a circumstance like this. Not Trini though, she’s putting all her energy into her training and becoming a better Power Ranger.

 

At least then nobody can tease her or mock her or send her hateful comments. She can help people and not have them be disgusted at the sight of her. Trini will be able to do some good in the world that her Mother might be proud of her for it, the only issue with that is that her Moher will never know it was her. Maybe that was for the best.

 

She kicked another puttie, sending bits of rock crumbling to the ground and Trini finally allowed herself a moment of rest. She really was exhausted; her breathing was more labored and she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Trini had gotten to the pit earlier than the other Rangers were scheduled to arrive, and after checking the time on her phone they should be here any moment now. She wouldn’t be able to deal with their questioning glances when they showed up. Nor would she be able to deal with Kimberly, taking her hand softly in her own and gently running her fingers along Trini’s bruised knuckles. Maybe it was best if she ditched training altogether.

 

“What’s up Crazy girl?” Trini looked over at Zack who waved at her, a frown tugging at her lips. Looks as if she won’t be leaving anytime soon.

 

“Taylor,” She grunted, barely glancing in his direction as she took a long swig from her water bottle.

 

“You’re early. Getting in some more training sessions?” His grin on his face was playful and carefree but Trini could see the concern in his eyes. He knew better than to bring it up. Trini nodded, not daring her voice to say anything. She still hadn’t gotten used to the other Rangers caring for her, hell she wasn’t used to anyone caring about her.

 

When Trini didn’t answer, Zack took a few steps towards her and sat on the rock beside her, “I’ve got your back Trini,” He told her, the sincerity in his voice caused Trini’s heart to beat faster, “Don’t forget that.”

 

By that point, Jason and Billy entered the pit talking about one of Billy’s latest projects with Kimberly trailing behind them, her face lit up when she noticed Trini and Kim made a beeline towards her.

 

“Hey,” Kim said, her voice soft.

 

“Hey,” Trini hated how her breath hitched when Kim smiled at her. They didn’t say anything else to each other, just continued to smile. Zack glanced between the two of them, his own smile growing as a knowing glint appeared in his eye.

 

“I’m gonna check on Billy and Jase,” Zack quickly jumped to his feet, but neither girl registered that he left expect Kimberly didn’t hesitate to steal his seat.

 

“You looking forward to the weekend?” Kimberly asked, her shoulder nudging Trini’s.

 

“A whole two days, where I don’t have to see any disgusted looks from anybody? Can’t wait.” She tried to keep her tone light, to try and show Kim that she didn’t really care about any of it. But Kimberly could see right through her, apparently, she had gotten good at that. 

 

“They’re all pricks,” Kimberly muttered, and Trini just gave a half-hearted shrug. “What happened to your hand?” She gently grabbed Trini’s bruised hands, her face becoming concerned as she stared at Trini’s split knuckles.

 

“It’s nothing,” Trini tried to pull her hand away but Kim wouldn’t let her, “It’s fine, I heal fast.”

 

“Did somebody hurt you?”

 

“No,” Trini said maybe a little too quickly, “I just got a bit too aggressive with the putties.”

 

Kimberly accepted her answer with a tense nod, “If things did escalate, would you tell me?” Her voice seemed hesitant as if she was scared to know the answer.

 

Trini bit her lip, staring at her trainers as she thought about it. Her entire life she had avoided telling people things about her, quite often they just didn’t care enough to know if something was bothering her and was just asking out of sheer selfishness. Except for Kimberly. Around Trini, everything about Kimberly was genuine, her concern, her smile, her need to make sure Trini was okay. The answer was easier then Trini would have thought.

 

“Of course,” It was barely a whisper but Kimberly still heard it. She brought Trini’s bruised knuckles up to her lips and kissed it softly. Trini’s could feel her face heat up when Kimberly’s lips made contact, and she swore her heart stopped for a second. She didn’t get a chance to respond or do anything expect blush when Jason called them over.

 

“You two ready to train?” He said and Kimberly slowly let go of her hand as if she reluctant to do so.

 

“Do you think you’ll be able to manage with your hand?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ve had worst injuries than just a bruised hand.” Trini smiled slightly, but it felt forced and the faint scar along her neck where Rita had marked her felt as if it was burning her just by the sheer thought of what had happened to Trini that night. Kimberly’s eyes flitted down to her neck and Trini could tell she was thinking the same thing.

 

It was already late in the evening when they had started training. Luckily it was a Friday night, so all of them could give good enough excuses to where they were. For Trini, it meant that her Mom was barely on her back as much now that she told her that she was actually hanging around with friends. They barely got halfway into training before the radio in Billy’s bag had started talking. The putties disintegrated as Trini and the others followed Billy as he rushed over to his bag and pulled out a radio.

 

“I built this radio to patch into police calls in Angel Grove, just in case there’s anything serious that needs the Ranger’s help. So far, it’s been nothing but petty crimes. Did you guys know that the reason why Perry is in detention on a Sunday is that he was really high and-”

 

“Billy,” Jason interrupted him, a softness in his eyes as he did so, “What’s going on with the radio?”

 

“Right, yes. Sorry,” He smiled sheepishly, but Trini only smiled encouraging him, “It seems like something’s happening down at Angel Motel, that really big one that’s more like a small hotel.”

 

Trini knew the one. She had snuck out of her room to stay there when things at home just got too unbearable. It was a place where most teenagers went to drink in some groups or went to get high. The Angel Motel was the perfect place for troublemakers, so Trini was not surprised when Billy told them that some sort of crime was taking place there.

 

They all waited with baited breath for Billy to decode the message, “There’s a huge fire, that’s started and they’re people still inside.”

 

Her heart sunk. Trini has heard about things like this happening before, fires would break out and people that were unfortunate enough to not escape would die. And that would happen tonight unless somebody saves them. Somebody like the Power Rangers.

 

Billy was already one step ahead of her, “We have to help them,” His statement was directed at Jason, who already looked conflicted at making the decision. As team captain, it was his responsibility to make sure his team was okay, and saving those people would be incredibly risky, but Jason was still a human being and Trini could tell that he desperately wanted to help those people. “We’re superheroes, right? Isn’t this what we do?”

 

“I’m with Billy,” Trini said stepping forward to stand beside Billy, “We can’t just train and wait for an attack when we could actually be out there helping people.” Billy beamed up at her, nodding along with her words.

 

Zack stood beside her, clasping a hand on her shoulder, “Trini’s right, we’ll be crappy heroes if we don’t.”

 

Trini eyes flittered between Jason and Kimberly. Jason seemed to have already made up his mind, but he still stared at Kimberly waiting to see what she would do. Trini ignored the twisting feeling in her stomach when that happened, and instead blamed it on nerves.

 

Eventually, Kimberly nodded but didn’t say anything. To Trini, it almost seemed like she was hesitant to do so. “Let’s do this.” Jason said, “It’s morphing time.” Billy clapped in excitement, but Trini barely heard it, she was too busy trying to get Kimberly’s attention who seemed like she wanted to look everywhere but Trini.

 

* * *

 

 

“Remember what Alpha 5 said,” Jason told them through the intercom of their suits, as they raced through the streets towards Angel Motel, “Our suits can prevent some of the heat but long exposure to it, is gonna cause some damage.”

 

Trini leaped from roof to roof, allowing herself a small moment of freedom before they had to save lives. “So basically, don’t touch the fire,” Zack said, and Trini could hear his grin in his voice.

 

“Yeah basically,” Jason agreed. Trini could see the fire from where she stood on a rooftop in an old coffee shop. It was far too big, and it almost seemed alive, as if everything that it burnt was giving it more power. Trini shook the thoughts of her head. She was the Yellow Power Ranger, she could do this. Never had she felt this strong and confident in all her life. She could hear the sirens as well, the fireman yelling at each other to control the flames, the cries of people who still had loved ones inside. Trini didn’t hesitate to rush in and help.

 

“Remember guys to work as a team,” Jason told them. They all said their agreements before their coms when silent. Trini perched herself on a roof ledge watching as Jason and Billy helped the people on the ground. The relieved faces from the fireman and police told them that they were grateful for their help, something that only slightly relaxed Trini, at least they weren’t hated.

 

“Guys, they have civilians on floors three, five and six. Two on floor three, two on floor five and one on floor six. One of them is a kid but we don’t know which one.” Billy told them, and Trini’s heart started to pound. The flames were higher on the upper floors, and she could only imagine what it would be like inside.

 

The sixth floor was the flames were at its best, but her gut was telling her that was where the kid was and all Trini had to do was imagine that it was one of her little brothers in that fire alone, and her mind was all made up. “I’ll take the sixth floor.”

 

“Are you sure?” Kim asked. Trini had already placed herself at the other end of the roof to give herself more space to run. By the time Kim had finished asking, Trini was already leaping off the roof, pushing herself away from the bricks with enough force to send her barrelling through a sixth-floor window. That went better than expected.

 

The fire was everywhere, and the heat was excruciating that without her armor Trini doesn’t know how she’ll survive. She continued to move forward, calling out for that one civilian that was stuck in this miniature hell.

 

“Is anybody here?” This time she heard a cough and a whimper from one of the rooms. The door was shut, and Trini wasn’t stupid enough to use the door handle. So instead, she used her strength to kick the door off its hinges and send it crashing into the fire. It did feel good to be able to use these powers for good instead of knocking down putties again and again.

 

“Hello?” A small voice called out, and Trini’s gut was right. In the corner of the room, cowering behind a fridge was a small girl, barely the age of ten surrounded by the flames. Trini easily leaped over them and knelt beside the girl, sweat dripping down her neck. “Who are you? Where’s my Mommy?” The girl cried, inching away from Trini. As much as she loved the suit, she knew that it can be slightly intimidating in some situations.

 

“It’s okay, it’s going to be okay,” Trini’s voice was soft and she held out her hands to show the small girl she wasn’t a threat, “What’s your name?”

 

“Lacey,” Lacey sniffed and Trini was reminded of her brothers after they had a nightmare.

 

“Well Lacey, I’m a superhero and I’m here to take you back to your Mommy,” Trini said, waiting for Lacey to grab a hold of her but it didn’t happen. The girl was still too afraid of her. She removed her helmet. Her eyes began to water by the smoke and she tried to stop a cough, “I’m not a monster. I’m only here to help you.”

 

“You’re Spanish like me?” Lacey asked, clutching onto her teddy.

 

Trini nodded and a small grin appeared on Lacey’s face, “Take my hand and I’m going to get you out of here.”

 

This time, Lacey grabbed a hold of Trini’s arm and she picked the small girl up, “I’m going to put my helmet back on now, so when we’re outside everyone else doesn’t know who I am. Okay?”

 

Lacey nodded, “A secret identity. You’re secret’s safe with me.” Lacey wrapped her arms around Trini’s neck, and after she made sure her grip was tight on the small girl, Trini launched herself out of the window.

 

For anybody else, that jump would have killed them, but Trini just landed heavily on her feet. She let out a shaky breath of relief that both Lacey and herself made it out of their alive. A woman ran towards the two of them, and Trini handed Lacey over to her Mother who clung onto her daughter sobbing with joy.

 

“Thank you,” She said before quickly hugging Trini, “Thank you so much for returning my daughter safely.” Trini could only nod, not manage to find any words suitable to how she was feeling. This was what being a superhero was about, saving innocent people’s lives and seeing the happiness and gratitude on their faces when she does.

 

“Trini,” She heard Kim say, “I need your help.” The happiness that Trini was just feeling vanished and worry replaced it.

 

“Which floor are you?”

 

“Third.” Trini rushed back into the burning building and practically flew up the stairs to the third floor. All the while, horrifying thoughts of what could happen to Trini invaded her mind. God, if something terrible happened to her then Trini would never be able to live with herself.

 

Kimberly’s back was to her and she was facing an elderly couple who seemed too old and too frightened to move. “Kim, what’s happening?”

 

“They won’t listen to me. I’ve been trying to tell them that the building is on fire and collapsing, but they won’t budge,” Kimberly’s voice was desperate and Trini didn’t have to see her face to know that she was terrified. “The old man wouldn’t even let me near him, without hitting me with his cane.”

 

Trini looked over at the elderly couple, the old man stood protectively in front of his wife, his walking stick raised in the air ready to strike. It was sweet that he loves her enough to protect his wife, even at their old age.

 

“Let me try,” Trini stepped forward, her hands raised above her head like they when she got Lacey to trust her. But this was going to be a lot different than gaining a child’s trust. “We only want to help.”

 

“That’s what Pink said,” He grumbled, coughing into his hand. Kimberly scoffed behind her. “We don’t want your help.”

 

“I get it, if I was you I wouldn’t want two random people in colored suits to help me,” Trini kept her voice low and calm. They were slowly running out of time. “But right now, we’re the only help that’s going to be able to reach you in time. I understand not trusting us, but you deserve a chance of seeing your family one more time. Let us help you,” His face softened, and his wife gripped his arm tightly.

 

“Make sure she’s okay,” He told Trini, handing his wife over to her so Trini could help her down the stairs.

 

“We’ll make sure you’re both okay,” Trini told them both.

 

It took longer than it should have had, to get them down three flight of stairs and out the front door. Thankfully the fire had been put out down here and all that remained was smoke. When they made it outside they were suddenly surrounded by paramedics, Trini and Kimberly stepped to the side relief flooding her heart.

 

They had done it. Not a single person died in the fire and it was because the Power Ranger’s helped. Trini didn’t need to speak to the other Rangers to know that they felt the same way, but when she turned her shoulder to check on Kimberly, the girl had vanished. There was no point in asking the boys where she had escaped to, Trini knew where she had gone and she knew the reason why to. With one last sparring glance at the scene around, Trini ran off into the night and towards the mountains.

 

Kimberly was exactly where Trini knew she would be. She was no longer in armor and sat on the top of a cliff that overlooked the lake, shivering slightly. For a small moment, Trini didn’t want to disturb her. She had obviously run off to be alone.

 

“I know you’re there Trini,” Kimberly spoke up, not even turning around to look at her, “You’re not very quiet.”

 

Trini rolled her eyes and sat down beside her, also having already de-morphed. If they hadn’t already saved people from fire then Trini could just pretend that they were two normal girls with completely normal problems. Though she wouldn’t consider being outed, a normal problem.

 

“I know why you ran,” Trini said, hating how blunt it sounded.

 

“It’s stupid,”

 

“It’s not stupid,” She hated talking about feelings and having emotional conversations like this. It was all because she didn’t know how to do it properly without sounding cold or disinterested, and Kimberly didn’t deserve that, “You tried your best.”

 

“And if you weren’t there then they would have died,” Kim shook her head, wrapping arms around her legs, “I’m useless. I couldn’t even help two old people.”

 

“You saved the entire town!”

 

“That was fighting the enemy Trini!” Her outburst made Trini jump ever so slightly in surprise, “It was completely different. I’m good at the fighting part and destroying the bad guy. But saving lives? I don’t think I’m cut out for it.”

 

Trini stayed silent, not having a single clue to what to respond with. There were a thousand things that she wanted to say to Kimberly, but not even one of them felt right.

 

“You know why I panicked earlier when they refused to move?” Kim asked, but she didn’t wait for Trini to respond, “I realized I couldn’t order them to move. They wouldn’t listen to any of my commands, and I couldn’t scare them into moving either.” She shook her head, her eyes squeezing tightly, “I can’t be a Ranger and save people.”

 

“You saved me,” Trini said softly. Kimberly’s eyes looked up and focused on Trini, they had tears in the corner that Trini was prepared to wipe away if they fall. “On Wednesday, without you, I would have closed in on myself, and I would have exploded and who knows what would have happened. But you saved me! So, don’t you dare say you’re useless or you can’t be a Ranger because I believe the exact opposite.”

 

“I would save you again and again,” Kimberly muttered, resting her hand on Trini’s shoulder. “The world doesn’t deserve you.”

 

Trini wrapped her arm around Kimberly and stared at the town across the lake, her face heating up. Kimberly seemed to have that effect on her. She rested her head against the top of Kim’s, thinking to herself how nobody on this Earth deserved Kimberly Hart, and Trini was going to make sure that nobody ever hurt her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini comes to the realization that she loves spending time with Kimberly and how much the girl means to her. Whilst Kimberly can't stop being angry about everything and tries to fix the only thing seems safe enough to fix. 
> 
> Also a surprise Tommy Oliver appears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that commented on my last chapter, wasn't expecting that much of a response from my first chapter. In this chapter, I decided to alternate perspectives and that might be something that I'll do throughout this story, and I've also included Tommy Oliver into this which I hope you guys like :D

Are you sure you don’t mind spending the night?” Kimberly asked, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Her voice small and vulnerable, something that Trini was not used to hearing from her and truthfully it made her slightly nervous about their current situation. Trini shouldn’t be nervous at all, this was Kimberly. Beautiful, smart and kind Kimberly, who was acting so unlike her usual self. Trini hesitated near the window as if a part of her was preparing herself for a way out because this was different. The air around the both Kimberly and herself weren't the same as it was Friday morning. Usually, Trini wouldn’t dare spend the night with a girl that she was sort of friends with, but then again, the thought of leaving Kimberly’s side right now hurt Trini in a way that she had never felt before.

 

So instead of running which would be the option that Trini usually went with, she nodded her hand, shoving her hands deep into her pocket. “I’ll just text my Mom,” Trini quickly sent a text telling her Mom where she would be and pocketed her phone. She knew her Mom wouldn’t have a problem with it, Trini could tell just by the look on her face that she happy that Trini finally had friends to hang out with. It was only a matter of time until her Mom had finally come the conclusion that Kimberly was a girl and the small approval that Trini got from her would turn into disgust. Trini wouldn’t be able to deal with those questions.

           

“So…” Trini said, feeling the awkwardness begin to flood Kimberly’s bedroom and Trini wished that she could deal with social situations properly.

 

A smile stretched on Kimberly’s face, “So… You know you can sit down,” Her smile became teasing as she patted the spot beside her. Trini could only roll her eyes in response, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips and she found herself sitting beside Kimberly anyways. Trini couldn’t understand why it had suddenly become awkward between the two of them. She had spent time with Kimberly before without the boys and it had never felt like this. Trini decided to pin on the fact that they were both exhausted from tonight’s events.

 

“You hungry?” Kimberly finally spoke up, quickly glancing over to look at the side of Trini’s face. She could feel the girl’s eyes on her and she hoped that her cheeks didn’t turn any shade of pink. But even if they did, the darkness in Kimberly’s room would prevent Kim from seeing it.

 

“Isn’t it a little late for food?” Trini asked and Kimberly shrugged, a small frown on her face.

 

“My parents are barely home for dinner, so I just eat whenever I’m hungry, and right now I’m starving.” Kimberly grabbed her phone from her pocket and opened an eating app. This was something that Kimberly must do more than on the odd occasion. Trini couldn’t imagine Kimberly sitting at the large dining room table alone, eating leftovers or takeaway. Trini swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat, she couldn’t remember a time where both her parents were absent from dinner. As much as it Trini hated every moment of it, her Mom insisted that they had dinner as a family every day if possible. Though, recently she had been lenient on allowing Trini to miss the odd couple for a very good reason. It had been a consistent thing throughout most Trini’s life, that she couldn’t imagine it being anything different.

 

“Pizza?” Trini offered, she knew better than to bring it up. Kimberly had done enough talking about her feelings for one night, and Trini knew Kim was just as reluctant to share details about herself as she was.

 

Kimberly nodded, and after ordering a large pizza with every meat topping available, she collapsed onto her back beside Trini a loud groan escaped from her mouth. “Why am I so tired? I feel like I can sleep for an entire year.”

 

“Probably because it’s been a really busy night.”

 

“I’m so glad I have you here captain obvious,” Kimberly rolled her eyes and tugged on Trini’s shirt. “Lie down next to me, you look awkward just sitting there.”

 

“I’m just an awkward person in general,” Trini lay down beside Kimberly anyways, cautious of the way their shoulders pressed together.

 

“You’re not awkward anymore,” Kimberly whispered, her eyes once again finding the side of Trini’s face. It took everything inside of Trini to not look at Kimberly, because if she were then she would see the dark brown eyes that seemed so big and warm that Trini had almost lost herself in them several times. That was only because it was almost impossible not to. Instead, she stared up at the ceiling, tapping her fingers against her wrist.

 

They didn’t say anything to one another after that, took comfort in the silence that Trini wouldn’t be able to have with anybody else. It was nice, if given the chance then Trini could lie beside Kimberly for eternity.

 

The world had different plans however, it wasn’t long until the doorbell rung and Kimberly slowly removed herself from the bed, “Wait here, I’ll be back in second.” Trini barely had time to her nod in response till Kimberly had raced from the room. Her phone buzzed from where she left it on the nightstand and she quickly reached over to grab it.

 

One message from her Mom telling her it was okay, and their Rangers group chat that Zack had created was live.

 

**Zack-** Tonight was epic!!

 

**Jason-** Hell yeah! Felt great being able to do some good :D

 

**Jason-** What happened to Trini and Kim????

 

**Billy-** They did leave the building but I don’t know what happened after. Do you think they’re okay?

 

**Zack-** They’re not answering, should we find them??

 

At this point, Trini was thought it would be best to intervene to prevent any of them showing up at Kimberly’s window to see if they were still alive or not. For some reason, her finger’s hovered over her keyboard preventing her from typing a response. Trini didn’t want to tell them that she was spending the night at Kimberly’s. Billy would ask innocent yet intrusive questions that she wouldn’t have an answer for, Jason would give her a look that was a mixture of concern and worry that seemed to be his personal expression when he was around the other Rangers, and Zack’s reaction would be the worst. She could just picture the teasing grin on his face as something completely inappropriate leaves his mouth, that she would end up punching him for.

 

**Trini-** Guys chill, we’re fine.

 

**Zack-** Where did you go??

 

Before Trini had the chance to respond, Kimberly marched through the door, carrying a box of pizza and a bottle of Coke with two glasses. She grinned when her eyes locked with Trini’s, “Food’s here.” She placed the pizza in the middle of the bed and sat beside Trini again. Trini’s stomach growled as she inhaled the scent of the pizza, she didn’t realize she was this hungry till just now.

 

“Who are you talking too?”

 

“Just the boys, they’re panicking because they couldn’t find us earlier,” Trini answered with the full intention of ignoring her phone now and putting all her attention on the pizza and Kimberly. It had been a while since they had hung out with just the two of them.

 

A smile appeared on Kimberly’s face, and a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. Trini had seen that look before and she knew that nothing good could come out of it. Kim pulled out her phone and opened her camera app, slowly sliding up beside Trini so that her side was pressed against Kim’s and an arm wrapped around Trini’s waist.

 

“What are you doing?” Trini asked, fully aware of how close they were and she could feel the erratic beating of her heart pounding against her chest. She hoped Kimberly wouldn’t be able to hear it.

 

“Taking a picture,” Kimberly said innocently, but the look in her eyes meant the complete opposite, “Look cute, but I know that won’t be hard for you.” Trini bit her the inside of her cheek, to calm her racing heart and just decided to go along with Kimberly’s request. It turns out she couldn’t really say no to this girl. Trini smirked as Kimberly raised the camera up, her head resting gently on top of Trini’s.

 

Kimberly took a couple of photo’s before moving slightly away from Trini’s side, “We both look adorable.” Kim grinned, that mischievous glint still in her eyes.

 

“What are you doing?” Trini’s eyes narrowed at Kim, who just tried to act more innocent.

 

“Nothing,” Kimberly said a little too quickly, and Trini leaned over to see what she was doing with that photo. “It’s a cute photo!” She defended just as Trini’s phone buzzed. She didn’t need to look at her phone to know what the message was that she had sent to the group chat, but curiosity got the better of her and Trini really did want to see if the photo was cute or not.

 

**Kim-** * _image attachment*_

Trini stared at the picture of the two of them together, something beginning to flutter in the bottom of her stomach. For once she didn’t look awkward or uncomfortable in a photo and it had everything to do with Kimberly, and Kimberly was incredibly beautiful in this photo that it almost took Trini’s breath away. Her usual dark eyes seemed brighter than they ever have before and there was a smug smile on her face, that would seem obnoxious on anybody except on her. On Kimberly, it just made her look more beautiful if that was even possible.

 

**Kim-** Girls weekend. Bye nerds!

 

**Jason-** That’s rude.

 

**Zack-** Why not make room for Zack???

 

**Kim-** Fuck off nerds. Except for you Billy, you’re amazing.

 

**Billy-** :D have fun guys.

 

After that Kim didn’t bother sending any more messages, but instead turned her phone on silent and tossed it to the other side of the room. Trini didn’t hesitate to follow her actions, but not before saving the photo of the two of them to her phone. She had no intention of doing that, but even she had to admit that the picture of Kimberly was far too cute not to, and maybe Trini doesn’t look too bad in it.

 

“Hungry?” Kim asked, opening the pizza box and Trini nodded, her stomach growling for an added effect. Kimberly didn’t say anything to her, instead, Kim’s smile grew as she happily took out a slice of pizza. Trini could tell that Kimberly was too comfortable around her, she leaned a little into Trini’s side, and her walls were down when it was just the two of them. Trini was trying her hardest to lower her own walls around the girl. But it was turning out not to be an easy thing to do.

 

They sat in silence eating pizza until they were too full and Trini lay back against the pillows, a sigh of content escaping from her lips. “If all it took was to make you happy was to feed you, then I would have done that months ago,” Kimberly teased, and Trini just shook her tongue out in response.

 

Around Kimberly, Trini just felt normal. Well, as normal as Trini could be. Though, she did felt she could be herself around the boys, with Kimberly it was different. She couldn’t explain it, hell whenever she tried to think about Trini’s brain couldn’t help but hurt.

 

When Trini couldn’t eat anymore, she collapsed back on the many cushions that Kimberly kept on her bed, a content sigh leaving her mouth. Kimberly watched her, with an amused glint in her eyes. Trini ignored the sudden race of her heart and opted to stare at the ceiling instead of the girl beside her.

 

“Better?”

 

“Much better,” Trini muttered, closing her eyes. Tonight’s events had left her exhausted and she could feel herself drifting off. There was some shuffling around from Kimberly before Trini felt her lie down next to her.

 

Now that they were just lying here in the darkness, Trini could practically feel the thoughts racing through Kimberly’s head. She didn’t have to say anything for Trini to know how she was feeling, it had everything to do with what had happened at the Motel. There were no words that Trini could say that could possibly make Kimberly feel any better. Trini rolled over to lie on her side and wrapped an arm around Kimberly’s waist. Cuddling was something that Trini usually despised but with Kimberly it was different. Like everything was with her.

 

“You usually hate cuddling?” Kimberly asked confused. It was always Kimberly that initiated any cuddling that they would do and Trini always responded with mumbled protests as she relaxed into Kimberly’s embrace.

 

“Shut up, or I’ll move.” Trini threatened. She didn’t need to tell her that it was Trini’s way of comforting her. Nor did she tell Kimberly that she didn’t want her to feel alone right now. Kimberly wrapped an arm around Trini and relaxed further into Trini’s side.

 

“I’m not complaining. You know how much I love cuddling with you,” Trini could hear the grin in Kimberly’s voice, and she shook her head against Kimberly’s chest.

 

“You know I hate you right,” Trini muttered, but the laugh that bubbled through Kimberly’s chest told her that she didn’t believe her. Trini closed her eyes, and she could feel herself falling asleep.

 

She woke up the next morning wrapped tightly around Kimberly’s body, their legs tangled with one another. This was how she wanted to wake up every morning, where she can tilt her head up and see the peaceful look on Kimberly’s face as she slept. This was one of the few times where Trini had slept since the night Rita attacked her in her room. Now that she thinks about it, whenever she’s near Kimberly, Trini found herself able to sleep through the night.

 

There was no way she could move away from Kimberly without waking her up, but right now her arm was trapped uncomfortably beneath her and if Trini moved very carefully then maybe she could succeed on just moving her arm just a little bit. Trini twisted her body slightly until she was lying on her side and it was enough for her arm to free itself. But before she could move back to Kimberly’s side, she heard a shuffle and a body press against her back.

 

“Where did you go?” Kimberly muttered in her ear, her voice still husky from sleep and her arms wound their way around Trini’s waist.

 

“My arm was uncomfortable,” Trini said and Kimberly rested her head-on top of her shoulder, her breath hot against Trini’s ear. She had to suppress the shiver that threatened to escape. “You comfy?”

 

Kimberly hummed in approval, “You know, I don’t think I ever thank you for yesterday.”

 

“You don’t have to thank me at all.”

 

“I do though,” Kimberly’s voice was soft, and a part of Trini wanted to turn around to face her but she wouldn’t know how her heart would take it if she was only an inch away from Kimberly’s face and her brown eyes were staring back at her, “You’re an amazing Power Ranger. I completely get why you were chosen.”

 

Trini gripped onto Kimberly’s hand and gave it a small squeeze, “You were chosen for a reason to Kim. You just don’t see it yet,” Trini tried to comfort her, she kind of guessed that there were insecurities that were rooted deep inside of Kimberly that made it impossible for her to believe that she deserves to be a Ranger. Trini was observant enough to know that even though Kimberly enjoyed fighting Puttie after Puttie, there was always something holding her back from being a hero.

 

“Maybe, or maybe it was just a mistake.” Kimberly paused as if she was thinking about what to say next, “Just think it could have been anybody that was down there with the rest of you. Anybody that could have gotten that pink coin. The coin didn’t choose me.”

 

“Then the coins didn’t pick the rest of us, but that doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters now is what we choose to do with it,”

 

“It’s just so hard,” Kimberly’s voice broke and it shattered something inside of Trini when she heard it. Her grip tightened around Trini, her body started to shake as tears slid down her face. Trini only knew because she could feel the back of her shirt begin to dampen, but Trini wouldn’t dare complain. She couldn’t turn around; the only thing Trini could think of doing was to bring one of Kimberly’s hands up to her lips and gently press her lips against the back of Kimberly’s hand.

 

“One day, you’re going to make a brilliant Power Ranger,” Trini whispered, “And I’m going to be with you every step of the way. I promise I’m not going to leave you.”

 

“Stay,” Kimberly mumbled, her voice hoarse.

 

The thought of leaving Kimberly’s side, pained Trini to think about. How could she possibly leave Kimberly now when the girl was broken? If she had it her way, Trini would never leave the girls side if it meant that she could give Kimberly a small sense of comfort and protection. Then again, if Trini had it her way then she would address the butterflies in her stomach then continuing to ignore them.

 

“Of course, you’ll be asking me to leave next time.”

 

“Never,” Kimberly muttered, placing a gentle kiss on the back of Trini’s neck that lit her body up like it was on fire.

 

* * *

  

Kimberly couldn’t let it continue. Even though Trini said that their words don’t bother her, Kimberly can see how much they have an effect on her. She saw the bruises on Trini’s hand that showed just how much. Kimberly couldn’t go through another week of hearing them call Trini dyke or talk about disgusting things behind her back. It took everything in her not to lash out of them, but her tolerance was starting to wear off. After seeing how amazing Trini could be after the weekend they spent together, it only proved Kimberly’s belief that Trini was too good for this world.

 

She left Trini outside of her classroom, with a gentle squeeze of her hand and a promise to see her at lunch. Ever since Saturday morning, both found it difficult to be away from the other, not that Kimberly minded. She had always loved spending time with Trini and she knew she could never tire of the girl. But she was just waiting for the time that Trini needed her space because she knew Trini wasn’t a huge people person, and whenever Trini asked for space Kim would be determined to give it to her.

 

Kimberly stormed through the deserted corridors, a set destination in mind. She had no intention of going to her lesson, instead, she walked into the Gym where she knew that most the Cheerleaders would be on their free, more importantly, that is where Amanda would be.

 

Though it was never confirmed who actually outed Trini, Kimberly knew exactly who it was and she knew it had nothing to do with Trini. This was a battle between Amanda and herself, and now Amanda had gone too far by bringing Trini into it. Kimberly wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

 

The Gym doors crashed open as Kimberly stormed in, and all the Cheerleaders jumped in surprise. But the shock on their faces darkened when they realized who it was, and Amanda sprung to her feet. The only positive thing that came out of being a Ranger was the super strength meant that Kimberly was untouchable, but Amanda didn’t know that and a small smirk appeared on her face as she remembered that.

 

“What are you doing here?” Amanda spat, as Kimberly stopped a couple of inches in front of her. “You’re not a cheerleader anymore so fuck off.”

 

“I know what you did,” She said, venom in her voice, “I know you were the one to out Trini.”

 

A malicious grin appeared on Amanda’s face, “Oh she did it all on her own that it just made it easy for me to spread that rumor. If anything, I did the girl a favor.”

 

“Outing someone is never a favor to anyone, it’s cruel and a bitch move to do,” Kimberly snarled, maybe confronting Amanda whilst she was still so enraged about the situation was a bad idea.

 

“Like sharing the nude I sent to you in private was a bitch move to do,” Amanda hissed, and shame filled Kimberly’s body and she took a step backward, “The dyke was pissing me off anyway. She liked to make sure she was so secretive about the glances she was taking when we were changing but I noticed them. It’s impossible to not see the way stares at you like a lovesick puppy. Honestly, it’s sickening.”

 

Kimberly was reminded of why she was here, and that was to protect Trini from bitches like Amanda. She would just have to push away her own guilt for the time being and focus on one of the few good things left in Kimberly’s life.

 

“Alright bitch, I’ve tried to play nice with you. In fact, I left you alone the entire the week because I didn’t want to make a scene. But you know what, I don’t give a shit anymore,” Kimberly took a couple of steps forward until she was face to face with Amanda, thankfully she had the height advantage, “Lay off Trini, otherwise one of your secrets would happen to pass through the school quicker than you can cartwheel,”

 

Amanda’s face paled, and her hands clenched into fists at her side, “You wouldn’t.”

 

“Oh, I would,” Kimberly warned, feeling the power that always followed when she intimidated someone, “Do you remember what happened at Cheer camp when we twelve because I certainly do.” Amanda took a step back and Kimberly knew she had won the fight. Amanda had barely any dirt on her, which was she brought Trini into it. Kimberly hoped that it would be the last mistake that Amanda made.

 

She should have known that Amanda always liked to get the last word in, “Is the dyke your girlfriend? Is that why you’re so obsessed with me leaving her alone?”

 

Rage took control of Kimberly’s body and she raised her fist with the full intention on punching Amanda in the face when a hand grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her back with force.

 

“You seriously don’t want to do that,” A strange voice hissed in her ear, as the person started dragging her out of the gym and away from the terrified Cheerleaders.

 

“Get off me!” Kimberly growled, wrenching her arm back as the Gym doors slammed shut behind them. There was a small huff and Kim looked over to see a girl staring back at her, a perplexed look on her face. “Who are you?”

 

“I’m Tommy Oliver, I’m new,” The girl greeted but Kim just narrowed her eyes at her, “What were you doing back there?”

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Kimberly snapped pushing herself off the wall and away from Tommy, but it seemed to be just her luck when she started following her.

 

“I’m not gonna lie, I saw the whole thing,” Tommy grabbed a hold of Kimberly’s arm stopping her. Kim just stared at her, why was this girl freakishly strong? “I just want to know why you thought it was a good idea to punch the head Cheerleader.”

 

“You just said you heard everything,” Kim said, this girl was starting to annoy her. Tommy must be new because Kimberly had never seen her around school before, her green jacket looked bright against her dark skin and Kim was slightly envious of the fact that she wouldn’t be able to pull off that shade of green.

 

“Oh, I get why you almost did it. Something about her picking on your girlfriend, a completely valid reason to hit somebody,” Tommy said, “But punching someone isn’t going to help.”

 

With a heavy sigh, Kimberly slumped against the wall, “Yeah, I know,” She admitted. She could tell the truth this Tommy Girl, “I was just so angry with her and Trini isn’t my girlfriend.” Saying the word ‘girlfriend’ aloud caused a flurry of emotions inside of Kimberly that she couldn’t explain, so she did what she was used to doing and that was ignoring them completely.

 

Tommy didn’t say anything but leaned on the wall beside her watching Kimberly with amused eyes. Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out her pocket seeing a text from Trini and Kimberly’s heart fluttered ever so slightly.

 

**Trini-** Zack says you’re not in class, where are you??? Are you okay???

 

She had forgotten that she was in the same English class as Zack and of course her absence would be noticed by him.

 

“She seems worried,” Tommy muttered from behind her shoulder and Kimberly spun around in surprise.

 

“Were you reading over my shoulder?”

 

“I’m nosey, and I’m now fully invested in your drama.” A grin made its way on Tommy’s face and Kimberly just rolled her eyes. She put her focus back on texting Trini back.

 

**Kim-** Yeah I’m fine, didn’t feel like going.

 

**Trini-** Want me to skip???

 

As badly as Kimberly did want Trini to skip her lesson and meet up with her, she knew that Trini wanted to do well in school so her Mom wasn’t on her case about her schoolwork as well as everything else.

 

**Kim-** Don’t worry about it, I’ll see you lunch xox

 

“Do you regret doing what you did? It seems like this Trini girl doesn’t really like confrontation,” Tommy raised an eyebrow up at her, and Kimberly shrunk in despair.

 

“She wouldn’t. She’s a much better person than me,” Kimberly muttered. It was true, this awful thing had happened to Trini and she showed the entire school that she was a much better person then any of them would ever be. Kim had admired her throughout the entire week of her ability to keep her head held high and actually show up to school. She wouldn’t be able to do that. She would have snapped and gotten herself suspended in the process, and that just proves how much of a better person Trini was than her. Kimberly was an awful person. She knows it, the other Rangers know it, her parents know, hell the entire school knows it. The only person who has any faith in her was Trini, and a selfless person would let the other girl go, but Kimberly was completely selfish and she wanted Trini by her side for a very long time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's something strange happening near the ship and Kimberly learns somebody's secret and makes what could be a terrible decision.

“Who’s that girl with Kimberly?” Billy asked and Trini glanced up, looking in the direction that he was pointing. Ever since Kim had cut her hair and she became a ‘social outcast’ barely anyone hung around Kimberly any more. So, it did come as a little bit of a shock when she saw a girl she never recognized standing next to Kimberly. The new girl seemed to be talking to animatedly to Kimberly and Trini noticed the scowl on Kim’s face deepening.

 

“I think she’s the new girl,” Jason told him, their eyes not leaving Kimberly and the new girl as they walked towards them. Trini frowned, it wasn’t like she was jealous of the new girl for having Kimberly’s attention. It was clear as day that she was annoying Kim and either didn’t realize it or didn’t care. Trini’s eyes found Kimberly’s, the frown that she had been wearing was instantly replaced with a small, genuine smile. One that was reserved for only Kimberly. Zack nudged her foot with his own under the table and waggled his eyebrows at her, a knowing smile on his face. Trini just kicked him hard, glaring at him.

 

“Hey guys,” Kimberly said, sliding into the seat next to Trini, leaving the girl to hover at the end of the table, “This is Tommy Oliver, she’s new and I said she can sit with us.” Kimberly waved her hand dismissively.

 

Tommy grinned and waved at them before sitting in the empty seat next to Jason, “You guys seem nice. I’ve been here for about a month now and no one’s noticed me.”

 

“Trust me at this school, that’s a blessing,” Zack grinned back at her, leaning forward slightly. Trini watched the interaction with raised eyebrows, making a mental note to tease Zack about it later. But as of now there were more important matters at hand, like the fact that Kimberly sat in silence and had skipped her English lesson for some unknown reasons. Trini was only a little concerned for her. It just seemed completely out of character and Trini just wanted to know what was wrong.

 

She took a quick glance at the others, noticing that Tommy was distracting the boys with some conversation that included exaggerated hand gestures. She rested her hand atop of Kimberly’s knee to gain her attention.

 

“Are you okay?” Trini whispered in Kimberly’s ear.

 

Kimberly jumped in surprise as she looked over at Trini, her eyes slightly wide for a moment before she composed herself, “Yeah I’m fine.”

 

Trini narrowed her eyes, not believing Kim for a second. It had taken some time, but she had finally managed to figure out when Kimberly was lying, well most the time she could. Thankfully, right now was one of these times.

 

“I know you’re lying. You skipped English, you never skip any of your classes.” Trini said, and Kimberly sighed heavily. It seemed like Kimberly was not ready to admit defeat just yet.

 

“I just had some business to attend to,” Kimberly said, and Trini knew that she was holding information back. She thought that Kimberly trusted her enough to share with her, isn’t that what friends did? But how could Trini know for sure, Kimberly had been the only girl that Trini could ever class as her best friend. Her family had moved from place to place far too often for Trini to even bother making any official friends that the concept seemed almost foreign to her.

 

Kimberly must have noticed the saddened look on Trini’s face that she grabbed a hold of Trini’s hands and entwined their fingers, “You’re not going to like what I did.” Kimberly’s voice was barely a whisper and Trini could hear the fear clear in her voice.

 

“Even if I don’t like your decision, it won’t change the way I see you,” Trini hoped that Kimberly heard the sincerity behind her words because she meant every word. It wasn’t a secret that Kimberly dealt with a lot of demons inside of her own head, that Trini had only begun to see the surface of it. Kimberly didn’t believe her when Trini told her she was beautiful or that she deserved so much more then she thought. Trini wouldn’t give up on her that easily though.

 

“I got mad and went after Amanda,” Kimberly said, and Trini released a sigh. She had wondered when something like this would happen. Trini knew that Amanda was behind her being outed to the entire school, but all Trini wanted was to put the entire situation behind her. What was done is done, and there is nothing Trini can do about it other than keep her head down and keep moving forward. Of course, Kimberly wouldn’t accept that. She could feel how tense the other girl got when other students insulted her in the corridor, and how her fist clenched when she would read the hate that were constantly appeared on Trini’s locker. It was only a matter of time before Kimberly snapped.

 

“What did you do?”

 

“I threatened her, said I would reveal her secrets just because I can. She kept insulting you, treating you like you were nothing and I was going to hit her. I wanted to hit her so badly,” Kimberly’s voice trembled and Trini wanted to say something, anything to comfort the other girl, but it was as if the words were lodged in her throat, “I saw the fear in her eyes as I raised my fist but I didn’t even care.”

 

“What made you stop?”

 

“Tommy appeared and just dragged me away,” Kim released a shuddering breath and rested her forehead on Trini’s shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

 

“You don’t have to say sorry to me,” Trini whispered, taking a quick glance at the others to see if they were listening in on their conversation. She knew that Kim didn’t want them hearing about this, none of them were paying any attention and she turned her attention back to Kimberly, “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

 

“Yeah,” Kim said, but her words didn’t sound so convincing. She must be deep in her own thoughts and that was never a good thing. The bell rang before Trini had the chance to say anything else. They all stood up and prepared to go their separate ways, Kim gave her one last squeeze as if she was terrified of letting go.

 

“I’ll see you later,” Trini said, offering Kim a comforting smile as their hands slipped from each other.

 

“Yeah of course,” Kimberly smiled and quickly hurried after Billy and Jason. Trini let out a sigh as she watched Kim’s retreating figure, her grip tightening on her backpack.

 

“Is Kim alright?” She heard Zack ask. She didn’t jump at the sound of his voice, now that he started to come to school more often and turn up to his classes he always waited for Trini after lunch no matter if they were heading in the same direction or not.

 

“She just has a lot on her mind right now,” She said as they started walking towards the Math class that they shared. Trini dreaded the part where she would have to walk past her locker, the words were still there and she tried to avoid it as much as possible but she really couldn’t go about carrying everything in her bag. She hated all the whispers and laughs that she hears whenever she’s near her locker. She’s just grateful that Zack’s with her right now.

 

“And how are you holding up?” Zack asked, looking down at her in concern. Trini wondered when he became her best friend, it was a change that at the beginning Trini certainly didn’t want. He was annoying and arrogant and cocky but ever since they had defeated Rita things did change. He was still all those things that Trini despised in the first place but he was so much more than that, he was caring and smart and funny, she would never tell him that to his face though and they just seemed to fit well together. He was the best friend that Trini had never expected, and there was no point in lying to him.

 

“It sucks,” She said sighing, “I’m just waiting for it to die down.”

 

He nudged her arm with his elbow, “I’m sure it will Crazy Girl, a jock and cheerleader will break up and you’ll be old news.” He was right, gossip in this school comes and goes and Trini is just waiting for the day where her name and the word lesbian isn’t passed around anymore. She wants to go back to being as invisible as soon as possible.

 

Her body tensed up when they walked past her locker, and she couldn’t tear her away from the graffiti. It looked like more people had added to it, her heart sunk when she read the hatred that people had written.

 

“Have they not even bothered to clean it?” Zack asked, staring at the locker as well and Trini shook her head.

 

“Nope, they said it will just return and they’ll order me a new one.” She said, her voice sounded so defeated. There was nothing she could do about her locker. She could clean it but the graffiti would just come back and she’ll be in even more trouble with her Mom and the school if she ripped off another locker. What Trini had to do was be strong and pretend that it didn’t bother her, “Let’s just head to class.”

 

 They sat down in their respective seats at the back of the classroom and the teacher started to drone on about something incredibly boring about Math. Trini zoned out immediately, she wasn’t bad at math and got most of it but her Math teacher must be about a hundred years old who didn’t know what he was talking about half the time. It was definitely for the best if Trini just learns it herself. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

 

 **Jason-** Meet at the pit after school.

 

 **Zack-** There’s no training today though.

 

 **Zack-** Gives us a break Cap

 

 **Jason-** We’re not training, Billy said something happening near the ship when the fire happened.

 

Trini’s eyebrows furrowed as she read the texts.

 

 **Trini-** Why are we hearing about this now?

 

 **Jason-** He’s been researching it over the weekend to see if it’s important and it’s not like he could have mentioned it a lunch with the new girl there.  

 

 **Trini-** We’ll check it out then.

 

She was about to turn it off when her phone buzzed and she opened it up to see Kimberly had privately messaged her.

 

 **Kimberly-** Give me a good excuse for later?!?!?!?!

 

 **Trini-** Why?

 

 **Kimberly-** Tommy asked me to show her around town after school and I need an excuse that’s not ranger related!!!!

 

 **Kimberly-** Help!!

 

 **Trini-** Tell her you’re hanging out with me and the guys.

 

 **Kimberly-** It’s too late

 

 **Kimberly-** She’s onto me

 

 **Kimberly-** I won’t be able to help later. Tell the guys for me.

 

 **Trini-** Will do. Have fun later.

 

 **Kimberly-** Ugghhh! If I text SOS come rescue me

 

 **Trini-** You’re over reacting

 

 **Kimberly-** Be my knight in shining armor

 

 **Kimberly-** Or yellow armor ;)

 

 **Trini-** You’re worst then Zack sometimes.

 

 **Trini-** But fine, I’ll be there if you text me.

 

 **Kimberly-** <3 <3

 

Trini shook her head, a smile pulling at her lips as she shoves her phone back in her pocket and attempts to focus on whatever the teacher was saying. One quick glance at Zackshowed his head on the desk already asleep. Trini wished that she could do the same.Although she wasn’t one for falling asleep in class, she could really do with the rest. She was finding it increasingly difficult to sleep in her own bed after what happened with Rita. It would help if she moved bedrooms but Trini was not going to even try and explain it to her mother, so she would just have to continue to suffer and just hope that it will eventually go away.

 

Eventually, the bell rang for the end of the day and Trini didn’t hesitate to leave the building and head towards Jason’s truck where they all decided to meet up. She may be a little bit disappointed that Kimberly wasn’t coming with them, especially after what she had talked about during lunch. Right now, Kim needed somebody to comfort her and Trini wanted to be that person. She refused to think about how that Oliver girl could be that person.

 

“Where’s Kim?” Jason asked when they were all there, and Trini quickly explained it to him. He nodded, an understanding smile on his face, “It feels like Tommy wants to be our friend and the less she knows the better.”

 

Trini didn’t say anything but the frown was clear on her face. She didn’t know what it was but there was something that she didn’t like about the other girl. It could be down to the fact that she managed to have a long conversation with the boys so easily when Trini still struggled to do just that or maybe it was because she smiled at Kim in a way that seemed too friendly. But if Tommy was going to be sticking around then Trini could act civil towards her, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

 

The drive to the mine was spent the same way it always was, Jason and Zack would argue about what they were playing on the radio. Jason wanted classic rock whilst Zack wanted pop, Trini wanted neither but apparently, she wasn’t allowed a say as they all agreed that hard-core metal music was only appealing to her. This would continue until Billy suggested country music, the arguing would die down and would be replaced with Billy’s song of choice. Except this time, there was no Kim who rested her shoulder against Trini’s with her eyes closed, a look of serenity on her face. Her absence was missed by Trini at least.

 

“What is it that was looking for?” Trini asked Billy, as they all got out of Jason’s truck.

 

“I’m not sure,” Billy admitted, pulling out this gadget that he probably made from his bag, “Just that on the night of the fire, there was a major increase of energy here. I tried to pin point the source, but there was too much of it for me to do alone.” He handed them all a smaller version of the device he was holding.

 

“What are we supposed to do with this?” Zack asked, already fiddling with some of the buttons. She slapped his hand away, an irritated look on her face already.

 

“I built them myself,” Billy said proudly, grinning at his accomplishment and the others couldn’t help but smile as well, “What they do is, if there is unusual energy it beeps. But there’s unusual energy all around so it will only beep when there is a lot, hopefully that’ll be source of it all. I think we should try and find it today because if we don’t then who knows what kind of damage it might do to the ship.”

 

“What do we do when we find it?” Jason asked seriously.

 

“Text me and I’ll come over, I want to collect a sample to study,” Billy told them, and they all nodded before heading in different directions, waiting to hear some sort of beeping. Trini hoped it wouldn’t take long, she had promised her Mom that she would be home in time for dinner today and she refuses to be on the end of one her Mother’s lectures. She was just too tired to listen.

 

She had been walking for about eight minutes when she felt a humming in the air. Trini stopped, looking around to see if there was anything that could be causing it before looking at device she was holding. It was completely silent. It could be broken, but something in the back of Trini’s mind was telling her that this wasn’t the energy that Billy had been talking about, this was something completely different. She continued to walk, thinking that maybe it was just her imagination being a bit delirious with too little sleep.

 

It wasn’t until the faint scars on Trini’s neck from Rita began to sting that Trini knew that wasn’t her imagination. She felt the blood drain her face, and she breathes quickened. It couldn’t be Rita. They flung her off to space and if she was back then they would all know about it. The more Trini told herself that, the less sure she really was. The humming intensified and she looked down, seeing something in the dirt. A coin.

 

Trini’s hand trembled as she bent down to pick it up, and she prayed to anything that was listening that it wasn’t what she thought it was. But when she flipped it around and saw the light shade of green, everything that Trini had been ignoring since that night came rushing back in her mind and it all became too much. She threw up the contents in her stomach, her body shaking violently. The green power coin lay next to her and Trini couldn’t bring herself to look at it. Why did this happen to her? What did she do for the world to hate her so much?

 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she quickly looked at it. Zack was telling her that Jason found the source and that they were gonna head home now. Trini wanted to tell them about what she had found. If this was a sign that Rita was really coming back then they all had to be ready, but as she slowly picked up she noticed how cold it was to her touch. It didn’t feel like any of the other power coins, they others were warm and was constantly vibrating. This just felt dead.

 

She quickly texts Zack telling him that she’ll make her own way home because her dinner was soon, before putting her phone on silence. The guilt for not telling them was already creeping into her mind, Trini ignored and shoved the coin into her pocket. There was something about the coin that didn’t feel right, and Trini wanted to figure it out before scaring any of them.  Well that was what Trini kept on telling herself as she hurried home.

 

* * *

 

Out of all the things that Kimberly wished she was doing, showing the new girl around Angel Grove was not one of them. She hated this town and parts of it were still under construction, that as she walked through the streets Kim was seriously wondering why anybody would move here after the battle. She’ll have to ask Tommy that question at some point. It was obvious that Kim’s heart wasn’t into this ‘tour’ and Tommy clear wasn’t that bothered about most of it anyway. There was something on the other’s girl mind that Kim wanted to know what it was, she just didn’t know how to ask.

 

“Do you want to grab some coffee?” Kim suggested.

 

“Yeah, don’t you have a Krispy Kreme?” Tommy said, but Kim shook her head. She did love Krispy Kreme but that had become her and Trini’s place and it didn’t seem right to take Tommy there.

 

“I actually prefer the coffee in this other coffee shop, it’s more local to Angel Grove.” Kim lied, briefly knowing about this other coffee shop on the other side of town that didn’t get destroyed. She had never stepped foot inside of it, but it was better than nothing and the coffee probably wasn’t so bad.

 

Kim wished that they had gone to Krispy Kreme after she had taken a sip of her coffee. It took a lot of will power to not spit it out, and she understood why the place was practically deserted with odd person. By the looks of Tommy was having some difficulty with it as well.

They sat there in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say and Kimberly was half tempted to text SOS Trini to get out of it, well maybe a bit more than half tempted.

 

“So,” Tommy started to say, and Kim moved her hand away from her pocket which had her phone in, giving the girl her full attention, “I think you know that there’s another reason why I asked you out which wasn’t to do with a tour. Which by the way you need to work on.”

 

She scoffed before her eyes widened slightly. Was Tommy about to ask her out? She had been talking to Kimberly none stop since the incident in the Gym and she did already ask Kim out. Was this a date? Kim started to panic, but she quickly took a deep breath to compose herself. What she needed to do was get a handle on the situation before it got out of hand.

 

“Tommy, you’re a nice girl and everything but I think you got the wrong impression,” Kim started to say, ignoring the confused look on Tommy’s face, “I’m flattered, but I’m not interested. It’s not because you’re a girl because I think I am interested in girls. I mean there was a time a couple of years where I did go on one date with a girl but that was it. But what I’m saying is that I think we’ll be better off as friends.”

 

Tommy stared at her, her eyebrows raised before she grinned, “Did you really think I was going to ask you out? First, gross. You’re not my type,” Kim frowned, she was only slightly insulted that she wasn’t Tommy’s type. Last time she checked she was everybody’s type. It was soon replaced by the embarrassment of what she assumed, “Second, aren’t you interested in the Trini girl?”

 

“What? No!” She defended her cheeks bright red for multiple reasons. Tommy gave her a knowing look but didn’t say anything else. Kim cleared her throat, “So why did you want to talk to me?”

 

Tommy quickly glanced round the coffee shop before leaning closer and Kim found herself doing the same, “I know.”

 

“Know what?”

 

“That you and your friends are Power Rangers,” Tommy grinned in delight, but Kim’s heart sunk. She must have seen the look on Kim’s face because she continued talking, “Don’t worry I kind of figured it out. I mean you guys do need to be a little bit better at hiding it. You wear the same colours as the rangers do, I mean you’re wearing a pink top right now. Not very subtle. When the Red and Blue Rangers were on the news during the fire incident, the blue one did a clap which is the same one that Billy did. And Trini is literally the same height as the Yellow Ranger, which is short.”

 

Kim couldn’t help but laugh a little of that one, Trini really was short especially considering she just surpassed five foot. Realization dawned on her face, and she glared at Tommy. “What do you want?”

 

“Nothing,” Tommy said quickly, fidgeting with her hands, “Look, I came to you to tell this to because we’re friends.”

 

“What makes you think we’re friends?”

 

“I stopped you from punching that girl and we’ve been talking the entire day,” Tommy said, rolling her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “A few weeks ago I was buy the docks when I found something in the water. I was going to ignore it but the next thing I knew I was underwater swimming to grab it. The water was deep and I kept on swimming and swimming and I was running out of air. I wanted to go back up to the surface, but I couldn’t. I was drawn to this thing, and then I grabbed a hold of it just as I passed out. I should have died, but I woke up in my bed the next day.”

 

Kimberly didn’t say anything, shifting in her seat. The story sounded eerily like what happened to her and the others with the train. They should have died then but they didn’t. Instead, they became Power Rangers. Tommy fished something out of her pocket and placed it on the table between. Kim was too afraid to look; her eyes were drawn to it, however. The green power coin, glowing and vibrating and Kim could feel her own coin begin to heat up.

 

“I can’t get rid of it. I tried, throwing it out to sea, setting it on fire, I even tried dropping it down a mountain but it keeps coming back. At first, I decided to ignore it, but then I kept on having these dreams of a face telling me I was Power Ranger and I had to find the others.” Tommy shoved the coin back in her pocket and forced a smile, “Well I found you guys.”

 

A Green Power Ranger. A sixth member of their team. Another Rita? Kim pushed that thought away, Rita was evil. After what she had done to Trini and Billy, Kim couldn’t imagine the girl sitting opposite her to be capable of such horrible things. The others wouldn’t think so, they’ll just see the green of the coin and assume that Tommy is exactly like Rita. Jason spent nights at Billy’s when he couldn’t sleep and the darkness got too much, and Trini still had nightmares and the scars of what happened to her. Kim saw the murderous look in Zack’s eyes when Trini had told them what happened to her that night, and she knew that Zack wouldn’t accept Tommy. None of them would.

 

“I was hoping you would introduce me to the others,” Tommy said, messing with her untouched coffee cup, “I think I’ll make a great addition to the team.”

 

The more Kim thought about it the more she realized that there was no place for a sixth Ranger. The morphing grip only had five spots, there were only five zords and Jason would say that a new addition to the team would ruin everything that they’ve achieved so far. Kim was about to tell her that, but she saw the hopeful look on Tommy’s face and it was like kicking a wounded puppy. They may not be ready for a new member now, but they may do in the future.

 

“Listen, and listen good. Things have happened in the last couple of months that makes the other Rangers not trust easily. Especially if you introduce yourself as the Green Ranger,” Kim started to say, she took one look at Tommy’s crestfallen face and continued to speak, “But I have a plan, you make friends with them at school. Let them get to know Tommy so when it comes to introducing you as a new Ranger they’ll be more prone to the idea and I’ll get to work convincing them a new member won’t be so bad. Sound good.”

 

“I guess so, but what about training?”

 

“What about training?”

 

“When the time comes, I want to prove to the others that I can be a Ranger. I don’t want to be left behind,” Tommy grinned, and it dawned on Kim that she’s going to end up saying yes to something she’ll end up regretting, “Will you teach me?”

 

Kim groaned, “Fine, but we do it on my time. You have to listen to everything I say and not tell anyone.” Kim watched as Tommy bounced excitedly, and she shook her head slightly. She had a small inkling, that this plan may come crashing down on her. Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

 

 **Trini-** My Mom knows about the locker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was more plot related than it was Trimberly, but I promise they'll be showing up the next few chapters. I hope you guys are liking my Tommy and my Tommy and Kimberly friendship :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini finally talks to her Mom out her being outed at school and good ole' Trimberly fluff.

Trini shut the door softly. Her hands still shaking and the coin in her pocket felt heavy, like a crushing weight pressing down on her chest, slowly suffocating her. All she wanted to do was hide in her bedroom until morning, but instead, she still had to suffer through dinner with the rest of her family.

 

“Trini is that you?” She heard her Mom yell from the dining room and Trini hesitated before yelling out yeah, “Dinner’s on the table.” She dumped her bag by the stairs and walked into her dining room where her Mother sat with Diego and Mateo, her Dad must be still at work and Trini could just sense that this dinner would become unbearable. They all looked up at her as she walked in, and she could feel the tension in the air. She sat down in her usual seat, and the boys didn’t hesitate to start eating.

 

“How was your day Trini?” Her Mom asked and she forced herself to answer.

 

“It was alright, I got my score back from that Chemistry test we did last week,” She said, shoving some food into her mouth to prevent herself from answering any more of her Mom’s questions.

 

“Did you do well?” Her Mom asked and Trini nodded, sticking her thumb in the air. Her Mom’s body was tense and her brother looked anxiously between each other. They ate in silence until all their plates were cleared and Trini wasn’t sure who wanted to escape the table more, her brothers or herself. All she was ready for was the sudden outburst that she knew was coming. The only thing she wasn’t expecting was who it would come from.

 

“Mom! Please don’t kick Trini out!” Mateo cried out, his knife and fork falling to the ground.

 

“We’ll be really good if she gets to stay!” Diego chimed in, and Trini glanced between the two of them, confusion clear on her face. Then her heart sunk.

 

“Boy’s go to your room. Your sister and I need to have a talk.” Her Mom said, collecting their plates and taking them into the kitchen. Not looking Trini in the eye. They knew, of course, they knew. Diego stayed seated for a while longer glaring at their Mother’s back, whilst Mateo flung himself at Trini.

 

“Please don’t go,” He whispered and she clung tightly to him, willing for her tears to not spill.

 

“You two need to go upstairs, I’ll be alright.” She hated how her voice cracked and she gently pried Mateo off her. Unlike her, he was freely crying and Trini felt her heartbreak. She hated seeing her brothers so upset, and right now the situation with the Green coin and the possibility of Rita coming back. Right now, all that mattered was that she was not going to be separated from her brothers.

 

Diego still had an angry look on his face, as he grabbed a hold of Mateo's arm and dragged him out of the room. She knew that they would be lingering on the stairs listening to their Mother talking to her.

 

She slumped in her seat, her eyes following her Mother as she sat down opposite her. Trini refused to be the first one to speak and it seemed like her Mother didn’t know what to say either.

 

“I had a phone call from your principal today,” Her Mother started to say, “He told me that someone had defaced your locker, and then he sent me an email with a picture of your locker attached.”

 

Trini’s body tensed up and she bit the inside of her cheek to refrain herself from saying anything that could possibly make the situation worse.

 

“The more I read what they had written, the angrier I got. I didn’t know who I was angrier at, you, the school,” Her Mom paused for a short moment, “Or me. How long has this going on for?”

 

“About a week,” Trini shrugged her shoulders, trying to make it out like it wasn’t that big of a deal. “None of its true anyways.”

 

“Yes, it is. I’ve known you were… different since you were seven and decided that you were never going to marry a boy but a Princess instead.” Her Mom shook her head, staring intently at the dinner table, “You never brought it up again and I ignored it. But it was always there in the back of my mind. I was hoping it was a phase, a part of me still is. I had so many sleepless nights thinking why someone would choose this life, but reading this filth that others wrote on your locker made me realize that you would not willingly choose this life. Tell me honestly, is this who you are?”

 

Trini felt something lodge in her throat and she looked up at the ceiling, tears in her eyes. She had prepared herself for yelling and screaming, her Mom to kick her out. This was something she was not expecting, and she had no idea how to deal with it. Not being able to find the words, Trini nodded.

 

“I don’t understand it, but you are my daughter and nothing is going to change that,” Trini felt the tears slide down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away, “Me, your Father and your brothers love you and support you no matter what. I promise you I won’t be kicking you out of your own home. Your brothers will never forgive me, and I will never forgive myself for severing the small bond that I have with my own daughter.”

 

“I get to stay?” Trini whispered.

 

Her Mom nodded, tears welling up in her eyes, “I’m sorry if I ever made you think otherwise, but this house is a safe place for you and I promise you that I’ll try my best to understand.”

 

“Thank you,” Trini said, “I think I’m going to go to my room.”  Her Mom didn’t say anything and as Trini walked past her, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. A part of her wanted to hug her Mom, but she knew that if she did then the tiny bit that was holding her together would break. Her Mom’s shoulders began to shake and Trini knew she was crying. She didn’t want to see her Mom cry.

 

Diego and Mateo sat huddled together on the stairs and they each had a guilty look on their face. She put a finger to her lips and ushered them upstairs. “You get to stay!” Mateo said, hugging her tightly. Diego hung back, grinning in relief. Trini pulled him into the hug also. She doesn’t know what she would do if she didn’t get to see her brothers all the time.

 

“How long have you known?”

 

“Since you’ve been friends with that Kim girl,” Diego said, “    You smile all the time around her.”

 

“She’s really pretty. Is she your girlfriend?” Mateo grinned, Trini shook her head at the two of them. She loved her brothers but they were an annoying pest sometimes.

 

“I’ve got homework to do,” Trini said, releasing them, “Go and entertain yourselves.” She watched as they ran into their shared room before she disappeared into her own room. As soon as she shut the door, she felt exhaustion take over her body and she collapsed onto her body. She didn’t even have the energy to cry. What she did do was pull out her phone and send a quick text to Kim before she tossed her phone somewhere in her room.

 

She laid there, staring at the ceiling allowing everything that happened today to flow through her mind. Kimberly almost punching someone, finding the green power coin and her Mom saying things that she never expected to hear. It was too much and Trini wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she was terrified to do even that. Now that the coin was in her possession, she knew that her nightmares would be even worse.

 

There was a light tap on her window and knew who it was. She shouldn’t be surprised that Kimberly had decided to show up. She could always count on Kim to be there whenever she needs her. She opened the window stepping back to let Kimberly inside. Kim was barely halfway through the window, when she wrapped her arms around Trini’s neck, pulling her into a tight hug.

 

“Couldn’t you have gotten through the window before hugging me?” Trini asked, her voice muffled as her face was pressed against Kim’s neck.

 

“Nope,” She said, shuffling her way through the window without letting go of Trini, “I got your text. Are you okay? Did she kick you out? Did she yell?”

 

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Trini moved back a bit, still in Kim’s arms, “I’m just tired.” Kim led her over to the bed and the two lay down. Kim wrapped her arm around Trini’s waist and gave her a supportive smile, “My Mom didn’t kick me out. She’s actually said that she’ll be understanding about it.”

 

“Trini, that’s amazing.”

 

“It means I don’t have to hide it anymore.” As soon as she said it, it felt like there was a huge weight lifted off her chest. Although she had so much going on than just this, it was years of pent up anxiety of her Mom finding out and doing the worst. She remembered how terrified she was when she found out she developed a small crush on a girl years ago. How she had repressed those feelings until they had moved again, “I can actually like a girl now without being scared.”

 

Kim didn’t say anything, but her gaze was warm and her grip tightened as she pulled Trini closer, “The way you texted me, made it seem like something terrible had happened.”

 

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. My brain wasn’t functioning and I just needed you,” She felt her body start to relax and she felt warmer just by being by Kimberly’s side, “I’m just so tired, it’s been a long day.”

 

“What happened at the mine?”

 

“There was some unknown energy that Billy wanted to find,” Trini said, hesitating slightly. She had no idea whether she should tell Trini about the coin that she found, she knew that Kimberly would worry too much over something that probably means nothing. She could handle it on her own, “We found the source, and Billy want's to study it or something. Nothing bad happened.”

 

“I would much rather be there, my time with Tommy was exhausting. I swear she’s like a more energetic version of Zack who’s just as annoying,” Kimberly said, laughing a little. Probably at the memory of something that Tommy did earlier. She frowned. Apparently, she was only a little bit jealous, but it was little that it seemed insignificant.

 

“Weren’t you supposed to be giving her a tour?”

 

“There’s not a lot to show with the town being half destroyed, so we just got coffee and she did most the talking.” Trini didn’t want to be irritated but internally she was. The only decent coffee shop that Angel Grove had was Krispy Kreme and they very quickly re-built it after it was destroyed. It was hers and Kim’s place. Though it seems like it meant a lot more to her than it did to Kim.

 

“You’re frowning,” Kim said, her eyes scanning her face, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“You’re lying. If you don’t want to tell me it’s fine.”

 

Trini sighed, she hated how she was the one who caused the hurt look on Kimberly’s face, “It’s nothing, just me being petty and stupid. Do you like Tommy more than me?”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s fine if you do, I mean I get it,” Trini rambled, looking anywhere but Kim’s face, “She’s more talkative than I am and you can actually have a conversation with her. She’s chill without it being forced. Like I understand.”

 

“You’re so stupid sometimes,” Kim muttered, “Tommy could be a good friend, but she’s not you. I would rather have your quiet, grumpy, beanie loving ass over anybody else. Don’t forget that you’re my girl.”

 

The longer she stared at Kim, the faster her heart was beating and she knew it was down to Kim telling her ‘you’re my girl’. She wished she had recorded it so she can listen to it whenever she wanted to. She felt her face heat up, but she refused to look away from Kim.

 

“Yeah?” She asked, a small smile on her face.

 

“Yeah,” Kim whispered. Trini wasn’t sure who started leaning forward, but they were. She didn’t allow herself to think because if she did then her brain would over analyze it and ruin the moment. And she certainly wanted the moment to happen. Trini closed her eyes, her lips almost touching Kim’s, and she yawned.

 

She tore her head away, embarrassment flushing her cheeks. She couldn’t believe she had yawned in Kimberly’s face in a moment like that. She wanted to do nothing but hide under her blanket and disappear forever. Kim stared at her, an amused glint in her eyes and Trini was rooted to the spot.

 

“Tired?” She asked.

 

“Yeah, not been sleeping well lately,” Trini said. Concern washed over Kim’s face, and Trini’s heart kept on pounding.

 

“Is it nightmares?” She asked and Trini nodded, “Do you want me to stay?” She nodded again, nuzzling herself into Kim’s side. She felt safe when she was with Kimberly and whenever Kim held her it seemed like the nightmares couldn’t even touch her. Maybe tonight, she would be able to get a full night of sleep.

 

“Get some sleep,” Kim whispered, and Trini could feel her eyes closed, “I’ll be here when you wake up.” With that in mind, she felt herself drifting off. Comforted by Kim’s words and the arms around her, completely forgetting about the green power coin in her pocket.

 

She woke up to small drops of water on her forehead, and with a groan, Trini opened her eyes. It was still dark, and Kim was still sleeping soundly beside her. She shook her head, probably just her imagination and prepared herself to go back to sleep.

 

“She’s pretty.”

 

Trini shot up, her eyes wide with fear. She recognized that voice, it was the same voice that she plagued her nightmares ever since they had whacked her off to space. Rita walked out of the darkness and stood at the end of the bed. She looked the same. The water dripping down her pale skin, and her green eyes glowing dangerously. The smirk on her face caused Trini’s body to shake.

 

“Did you miss me?”

 

“How did you get here?” Trini asked, cursing herself at how her voice trembled but she couldn’t shake the memories of what happened last time Rita was here.

 

“I’m here but I’m not,” Rita shot forward, her face inches from Trini’s, “I’m inside of the pretty head of yours.” She pressed a nail to Trini’s temple, digging it in slightly. Trini flinched at the pain and squeezed her eyes shut. This was a dream and when she opens them again Rita will be gone, it was nothing but another dream. Except, when Trini did open her eyes Rita was still here, grinning at her.

 

“I missed you. It’s so lonely where you sent me,” Rita trailed a hand down her chin, before gripping her chin tightly, “But it seems like you found someone else.” She released Trini’s chin, pushing her head back before hovering over Kim’s sleeping form, “Do you think she’s pretty?”

 

She watched, frozen to the spot as Rita pushed away some of the hair that covered Kimberly’s face. Rage filled Trini’s body and the urge to protect Kim took over. She jumped off the bed and pushed Rita away, “Don’t touch her.”

 

Rita laughed and she could feel her bravery decreasing just by the sound of that laugh. It was like it was wrapping around her throat and suffocating her. “I’m willing to forgive you,” She crept slowly towards Trini and shoved her against the bedroom wall, pinning Trini to it with her body, “I’m going to have fun playing with you.” She scratched her nails along Trini’s stomach and she gasped in pain.

 

A hand gripped onto her shoulder and started shaking her. She could hear a voice mumbling something that Trini couldn’t quite hear.

 

“Wake up,” The voice mumbled, Trini could no longer see Rita, the darkness surrounding her, “Trini, wake up. It’s just a dream.” Trini’s eyes shot open with a strangled gasp, and the hand on her shoulder stilled. She sat up, her eyes darting around the room searching for any signs of Rita. It seemed real. Realer than any other dream, that Trini has ever had. But it couldn’t be real though, could it?

 

“Trini, it’s okay,” The voice was clearer now, and she looked over to see Kimberly’s concerned face looking over at her, “It’s just a dream.”

 

She couldn’t speak, her body was shaking and she reached out to grab a hold of Kim’s hand. This is real, Trini told herself and she breathed in deeply.

 

“Rita. She was here,” Worry flashed across Kimberly’s face, as she entwined her hand with Trini’s, “She was watching us sleep, taunting me.”

 

“Rita’s gone, we saw her fly into space,” Kim assured her, pulling her closer, “It was just a dream. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

 

She nodded along with Kim’s words, wanting desperately to believe it but it seemed far too real, but how could she possibly explain that to Kim. She looked at her bedside clock and saw that it was four in the morning. She released a sigh and wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep in Kim’s arms but she was terrified to do that.

 

“Do you want to get out of here?” Kim offered with a gentle smile, “We would have to get up soon for detention anyway.”

 

“You can go home and get some more sleep,” She said, hating how she would keep Kim from sleep. The team didn’t need two sleep deprived Power Rangers, “I’ll be fine.”

 

Kim rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly, “Whether you’ll actually be fine or not. Do you really think I’m leaving you on your own right now, for my sanity?” Kim raised an eyebrow and Trini felt her cheeks heat up, “Besides Krispy Kreme opens at six. I don’t know about you but it’s been a while since we’ve had a donut date.”

 

Kim grinned cheekily, waggling her eyebrows at Trini, who shoved her in response, “You’re such a nerd, but fine.” She got up from the bed and walked towards her bathroom, resisting the urge to glance back at Kimberly. Instead, she shut the door softly behind her and gripped onto the sink, breathing in a shaky breath.

 

She desperately wanted to believe what Kim told her and at least attempt to get over what just happened. Maybe she could. She lifted her top up to see if the scratches were still there. Trini honestly thought she would break down right there once she saw three red scratches on her stomach, what hadn’t been there when she had gone to sleep. She could feel that something was happening, even if was just happening inside of her own head and she refused to let it affect her friends.

 

* * *

 

Kim couldn’t tear her eyes away from Trini as she attacked Puttie after Puttie with a ferocity that none of them could match. It was completely mesmerizing, and Kimberly didn’t want to look away. Maybe it was about time that she finally admitted that to herself. The only problem that occurred with her staring at Trini was that Zack managed to knock her down, and she landed on her back with a surprised groan.

 

“Having trouble focusing?” Zack asked, a large grin on his face and Kim knew exactly why he was grinning. She huffed as she got to her feet and raised her arms in a fighting stance. As of now, she was stuck sparring with Zack after they realized that Trini had a lot of pent up aggression that she kept accidentally taking out on Zack. Jason thought it would be for the best if she was on her own for a bit.

 

“Shut up,” She hissed, as she threw a punch at Zack’s head that he easily dodged. He was right though, she was having troubling focusing a little. But it wasn’t her fault that Trini decided to wear a sports bra, Kim was only human and Trini was insanely attractive. She stepped to the side at the last second as Zack attempted to kick her.

 

“You know watching the two of you interact is exhausting,” Zack told her and Kimberly tried not to think about what Zack meant, “You are just contently making heart eyes to each other.”

 

“We do not.” She said a little too quickly, Zack gave her a knowing look and she sighed, “Well, maybe I do but barely.”

 

Zack grinned, bouncing on the spot, “Kim and Trini sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-” Kim felt her face heat up, looking around the Pit to see if anyone had noticed, before kicking Zack in the chest and knocking him to the ground.

 

“Alright, I’ll be quiet now,” Zack mumbled, clutching his chest in pain. Jason looked over from where he was sparring with Billy and shook his head.

 

“Alright guys, I’m calling it a day,” He called out to them, and Kimberly sighed in relief. After last night, she was not in the mood to train today and after taking a quick glance at Trini she could tell that she happy about training ending early today as well. The Putties dissolved, leaving Trini standing in the middle panting heavily. She quickly composed herself taking a large gulp from her water bottle, her eyes following as Trini walked over towards her.

 

She knew better than to bring up what happened last night, Trini would talk when she was ready and it was up to Trini to decide when that would be, “It looks like you don’t need the rest of us, you seem to be able to take out all the Putties on your own.” She grinned when Trini rolled her eyes, grabbing the water bottle out of Kim’s hands.

 

“Not likely, the five of us are a team,” Trini said and Kim swallowed down the guilt, “Together we’re unstoppable.” Warmth flooded Kim’s chest, and she swayed on her heels biting the inside of her cheek.

 

“Ready to go?” She asked and Trini nodded, grabbing her shirt and slipping it on. Kim tried to hide her slight disappointment. Trini grabbed a hold of her hand, tangling their fingers together and Kim felt the erratic beating of her heart as the two made their way out of the Pit. She bit her lip, taking a quick glance at Trini’s face trying to make sense of the thoughts inside of her head.

 

All her thoughts were about Trini and it was beginning to make everything a little more complicated. She couldn’t hold Trini’s hand anymore without noticing how warm her entire body felt or when they cuddled in bed and Kim came to the realization that their bodies molded perfectly together. She was Kim’s favorite person. The only one who Kimberly felt the most comfortable with and who she could be with for hours. It suddenly dawned on her and she froze, her eyes widening. So, maybe she did have a slight crush on Trini.

 

“You alright?” Trini asked, her face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at Kim. She blinked a couple of times focusing back on Trini, feeling her stomach churning.

 

“Yeah, I’m great,” She tried to grin convincingly, she was not prepared to tell Trini what she had just figured out. They continued walking, she ignored how Trini kept looking at her curiously and she just hoped that her face wouldn’t’ give it away.

 

“Do you think they’ll be another attack?” Trini asked, breaking the silence. Kim’s not surprised that she was thinking about it. After Trini had dreamt about Rita last night Kim knew it was only a matter of time until Trini brought up something like this.

 

 

“I don’t know,” Kim said, not wanting to lie to her, “Maybe at some point, there could be another attack. But we’ll be ready for it.” Kim tried to assure her, wrapping an arm around Trini’s shoulders.

 

“What about Rita?”

 

The fear was hidden away, but Kim could still hear it in Trini’s voice. She had every right to be afraid, Rita had broken into Trini’s room and attacked her in the middle of the night. Threatened to kill her and hurt her. It filled Kim’s body with rage as she thought about it, but it also broke Kim’s heart because Trini still had the scars from the attack. She wished she could have done something, protected Trini. She can’t blame Trini for wondering, she had done it herself a couple of nights after they had defeated Rita. But there couldn’t be a chance of that happening, right? Rita had been replaced by Tommy, the Green Power Coin had moved on. There was no way Rita could come back.

 

“Zordon would have told us if there was,” Kim said, but she could tell that Trini wasn’t believing her, “Even if there is a tiny chance of Rita returning, I won’t let her hurt you. I promise.” Trini stared at her, her clouding over and Kim resisted the urge to grab a hold of both of Trini’s hands. They continued staring at each other, Kim’s words washing over them and she wanted to kiss Trini. Probably more than she had wanted to kiss Trini last night. The sound of a phone ruined the perfect moment, and Trini tore her gaze away to her phone in her pocket.

 

“It’s my Mom, she’s wondering when I’ll be home,” A small smile was on her face as she read the message, and the disappointment that Kim felt from not kissing Trini was replaced with a softness that was only reserved for Trini.

 

“Is everything going to be okay with the two of you?”

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Trini said, “Dad’s home from work and she wants some family bonding time. Is it alright if I go?”

 

“Of course, it’s okay,” Kim said, the feeling the disappointment turn into softness the more she stared at Trini, “I’ll text you later?”

 

“You better,” Trini grinned and Kim wrapped her arms around Trini’s small body in a tight goodbye hug, “I’m going home I’m not dying,” Trini said, her voice muffled by Kim’s shoulders.

 

“Shut up,” She laughed, slowly releasing Trini, a hint of red on her cheeks.

 

“Kim! I was just about to text you,” Tommy called, running across the road over to them, “Hey Trini.” She didn’t reply, instead did a small grunt of acknowledgment with Kim thought was adorable.

 

“Hey Tommy,” Kim replied smiling back. She heard Trini huff and grabbed a hold of Kim’s hand. She glanced down at the girl, noticing how her eyes were narrowed in Tommy’s direction. Was she jealous?

 

“You free to hang out now?” Tommy asked, looking down at their joined hands and the grin on Tommy’s face grew. The grip on Kim’s hand tightened, and she tried to repress a grin.

 

“I’ll call you later,” Kim said, bending down and placing a quick kiss on Trini’s cheek. Her cheek turned a bright shade of red and a small, dopey smile appeared on Trini’s face, “Now get home before your Mom freaks out.”

 

Trini’s eyes flickered between Kim and Tommy before she turned on her heel and headed home. Kim watched her go, a content sigh leaving her lips.

 

“You two are disgustingly cute,” Tommy said, causing Kim to look away from where she was watching Trini.

 

“I think I like her,” Kim said, “Like, really, really like her.”

 

“Yeah, I could have told you that,” Tommy told her, and Kim rolled her eyes, “Why don’t you ask her out?”

 

“I can’t do that!” She said, her eyes widening slightly.

 

“Why not?”

 

“I don’t know. What if she says no?” The thought of losing Trini’s friendship and Trini herself was worse than never dating her.

 

“What if she says yes?” Tommy said and Kim bit her lip. She was impulsive, always had been. She didn’t think her actions through, which is how she ended up punching Ty Flemming in the face and throwing both herself and Trini off a cliff. Tommy was right, it was a fifty/fifty chance that Trini might say yes and everything will be perfect. How else will she know unless she tries?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim's crush on Trini get's increasingly worse and apparently the only thing she can think of which is romantic is climbing through Trini's bedroom window in the middle of the night with a box of her favorite doughnuts and a cactus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, it just felt impossible to write and even now I still wished it could be better. But, if I didn't publish it now then I never would. So I hope you guys like it :)

This week at school was probably one of the worst weeks that Kim had ever experienced and it was only a Thursday. It was almost as worse when she was kicked off the cheerleading team and ended up at the bottom of the social hierarchy. She shut her locker with more force than necessary, a glare on her face.

 

It was as if the entire school, except Jason and Trini, had figured out her feelings for Trini and had decided to ruin her life with it. That may not be the case but as of Kim was far too angry to think anything differently.

 

Everything was going perfectly on Monday. Kim felt her heart racing every time Trini would ‘accidentally’ brushed their hands together, and would send a small, adorable smile in her direction. She had been told numerous times by both Zack and Tommy that she was not being subtle at all. Zack had grinned at her whilst saying she had literal ‘hart eyes’. Originally, Kim hoped that she was being subtle because the thought of Trini finding out was terrifying for Kim. Although she had admitted it to herself and Tommy, there was no way that she was ready for Trini to know that her feelings went further than just platonic. Now wasn’t the right time for Kim to admit her feelings, Trini’s nightmares were getting worse and Kim didn’t want to start anything new with her keeping the secret on who Tommy really was. But then Monday afternoon happened, which kick started the worst week of Kimberly’s life.

 

She was slowly collecting her stuff from her desk at the end of her Maths lesson, not bothering to listen to the mindless chatter from everybody else. It was the last lesson of the day and Kim couldn’t wait to leave this place. School may have gotten better now that she has friends that she cares about her but she still preferred to be anywhere but here. Also, had hadn’t spoken to Trini since lunch and she missed her.

 

Kim didn’t notice that someone was standing above her desk until they cleared their throat. She glanced upwards, her face scrunching up in slight confusion when she realized Kate Simpson was standing in front of her, a fake smile plastered on her face.

 

“Hey,” Kim said cautiously. When Kim was a cheerleader she would speak to Kate, but even then, it was rare. They had run in the same social circles with Kate being, rich, blonde and beautiful. She couldn’t think of a reason why Kate had suddenly decided to talk to her.

 

“Hey Kimmy,” Kate said, far too cheery to be genuine, “It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”

 

She raised an eyebrow in Kate’s direction, “We barely see each other anymore.” Kim didn’t want to be hostile towards Kate, what she did want was for this conversation was to be over as quickly as possible, “What do you want Kate?”

 

“Straight to the point,” Kate huffed, the fake smile slipping from her face, “Your friend, her names Deedee, right?”

 

Irritation filled her body at the mention of Trini’s name being said wrong and a frown pulled at her lips, “It’s Trini.”

 

“Yeah,” Kate waved her hand dismissively, “Any chance you can give me her number?”

 

Kimberly’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before her face hardened. Last time she checked, Kate was straight and had absolutely no interest in girls. Even if she was, Kate wasn’t Trini’s type. She couldn’t be, but then Kate was practically everyone’s type and Kim was now only slightly nervous.

 

“Why?”

 

“To hook up,” Kate said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “She’s the only gay girl at our school.” Kate wriggled her eyebrows not saying anything else, but the implication was there. Kim thought she was going to be sick at Kate’s words. She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and stormed past Kate knocking her in the process.

 

“If you think I’m going to give you her number for that, you can fuck right off,” She threw over her shoulder before storming out of the classroom, anger radiating off her body.  She couldn’t decide what she was angrier about, the fact that someone saw Trini as an object to help them discover their sexuality or the fact that someone asked Kim for Trini’s number. 

 

When she stormed out of the school, she didn’t even bother looking for her friends like she usually would. She heard Zack yell her name and frantically wave her over, she couldn’t ignore them. With a sigh, she headed in that direction hoping that she didn’t look too angry for them to ask questions. She also really didn’t want to see Trini after what had happened with Kate.

 

“Does she look angry to you?” Billy asked when Kim came into sight.

 

“She does, I never should have called her over,” Zack said, before ducking behind Billy. He must know that Kim is this close to snapping.

 

“Hey Kim,” Billy greeted her, waving cheerily at her and she smiled a little at him.

 

“Are you okay?” Jason asked her, and the calm that she had slowly started to feel evaporated and was quickly replaced by the anger she had just been feeling.

 

“Of course, I’m fine,” She snapped, “Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

 

The boys shuffled nervously, as they glanced at each other as if they were daring each other to answer. Kim glared at them, placing her hands-on hips.

 

 

“Well?”

 

Zack opened and closed his mouth doing a great imitation of a fish, his eyes darting all over the place looking for an escape, “Trini!” He grabbed a hold of Trini’s arm and pulled her into the group and in front of him, Jason and Billy.

 

“What?” Trini asked, confused before eyes landed on Kimberly’s face and it dawned on her, “Oh, thanks, guys.” The last part was mumbled but Kim could hear her clearly. She wasn’t that bad to deal with when she was angry.

 

She scoffed and turned on her heel, just wanting to go home and calm down, “Kim wait.” She heard Trini yell and hurried footsteps behind her, “Will you slow down a little.” A hand grabbed a hold of her own, pulling to a stop.

 

“What?” She huffed, not wanting to snap at Trini whilst she was this angry.

 

Trini raised an eyebrow, “What’s made you all grumpy that Zack is fearing for his life?”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kim mumbled, feeling herself calm down slightly when Trini started rubbing her thumb gently over the back of Kim’s hand.

 

“Okay,”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Trini said, shrugging slightly as if it wasn’t a big deal, “You never pressure me to talk when I’m not ready, why should I treat you any differently?”

 

Emotions overwhelmed her, and she choked on the words that she so desperately wanted to say. All she could do was envelope Trini in a bone crushing hug. What did she do to deserve somebody as amazing as Trini? Soon, when everything was out in the open and everything was okay between them Kim will tell her how she feels. Hopefully, it’ll be soon rather than later.

 

Kim didn’t think anything could be worse than what had happened Monday, but then Wednesday morning happened and Kim’s already bad mood worsened.

 

She had snapped at anybody that dared to speak to her, except for Billy and Trini because there was nothing inside of Kim that could make her yell at either of them. Halfway through Tuesday, Jason and Zack had started to avoid her until she calmed down and Tommy just rolled her eyes every time Kim said something a too harsh.  Every time she attempted to calm down, she was reminded of the conversation she had with Kate and she would see red. Trini deserved better than being treated purely for experimental reasons.

 

She was currently washing her face in the girl’s bathroom, trying to calm down when the sink opposite her became occupied. Kim spared the girl a quick glance, she didn’t know her but she looks familiar. She was small, round Trini’s height with fiery red, curly hair and bright green eyes to match. She fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket as if she was trying to build up the courage to say something.

 

“I was just wondering,” She started to say, avoiding Kim’s eyes, “If you and Trini were dating?”

 

Kim blinked a couple of times, trying to keep the shock clear from her face before she could even muster a response, “Ugh… Why would you think that?”

 

“I thought it was obvious,” The red head mumbled, obviously wanting to escape from this conversation just as much as Kim did.

 

“We’re not dating,” Kim answered clearing her throat. She debated telling the red head that she did want to date Trini, but she didn’t know this girl and how much of a gossiper she was. Although, she was cute and shy, and she wore a band t-shirt that looked like something that Trini would listen to. If she were to ask Trini out then there would be a good chance that Trini would say yes and there would be no chance for her.

 

“But, I like her,” She continued talking before the red head could get any ideas, “Like really, really like her.”

 

The red head nodded in understanding, “I get it, I just didn’t want to get in the way of anything between you two. If anything, the two of you make a cute couple.”

 

“Err thanks,” Kim said, and the two stood there in silence just staring at each other awkwardly, “I should head to lunch.” She motioned to the bathroom the door and slowly edged her way there. She wanted nothing more than to leave this conversation and head back to her friends. The red head seemed nice and all but she really didn’t want to think about the red head dating Trini. It didn’t stir up a wave of anger like before, instead, it just made Kim realize how that somebody else would be better for Trini. She hung her head as she exited the bathroom and walked in the direction of the canteen.

 

There was a large part of her that considered ditching lunch altogether, but she could just imagine the amount of texts that she would get from each of them and the only one she wouldn’t be able to ignore was Trini’s. She was really the only reason why Kim was even going, she found it harder to be away from the other girl sometimes.

 

She heard them before she saw them, Zack and Jason were having a very loud discussion about whether DC was better than Marvel with Billy adding his input every now and again. Trini sat to the side, watching them with an amused smile as she probably ignored Tommy’s chatter beside her. Kim couldn’t help but smile at the sight, she really was lucky to have a group of friends like them. They were more than friends though, they were her family, bonded through something that they couldn’t share with anybody else.

 

Silently, she slipped into the seat beside Trini, her smile brightening when    Trini turned around to face her with a smile. “I thought you weren’t going to show up,”

 

“And miss seeing your beautiful face, I would be crazy not to,” She didn’t know where that comment came from but seeing Trini’s cheeks turn a bright shade of red was definitely worth it.

 

Trini mumbled something incoherent, pulling her beanie low over her face and Kim laughed. Facing forward, she noticed the dopey grin as she not so subtly glanced between her and Trini. She shook her head, with a glare hoping that Tommy would just drop the subject.

 

“Are you still in a rage Kim?” Tommy asked, gaining the attention of the boys who stopped their conversation to listen. Apparently not, but then she expected nothing less from Tommy.

 

“Yeah, why were you mad?” Zack piped in, a knowing grin on his face. Great, two of the worst people knew about her crush on Trini and they were not helping in any way.

 

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” She tried to wave off the conversation but of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

 

“Are you sure Kim? You looked very angry after school on Monday and for most of Tuesday,” Billy asked, concerned. She could feel Trini’s eyes on the side of her face and she sighed.

 

“Somebody said something on Monday that just really pissed me off,” She admitted. She eyes didn’t leave the table, only looking up when she felt a hand gently rest on her knee. Trini’s face had darkened, and lips were pressed into a thin line.

 

“Who said it?” There was fierce protectiveness in Trini’s tone, and Kim’s heart raced. This Trini reminded her of the girl who comforted her after the fire. Kim loved this side of Trini, it was one that she didn’t show often but it revealed itself on the odd occasion when her brothers or the other rangers were involved.

 

“It doesn’t matter and it wasn’t even about me,” Kim said, grabbing a hold of Trini’s hand in an effort to calm them both down. Kimberly still couldn’t get over how perfectly their hands fitted together, “It doesn’t matter now. I don’t think she’ll be saying anything again.” She tried not to stare into Trini’s eyes as she spoke but she found it was almost impossible not to. Instantly, Kim found herself lost in Trini’s dark brown eyes, that were filled with passion and warmth, and she was falling deeper.

 

“Jason, why do Trini and Kimberly keep staring at each other?”

 

“I think we know the reason Billy,” Kim’s face blushed as she finally tore her eyes away from Trini. When did her friends become so irritating? She didn’t dare look at Trini again in fear that the same thing would happen again.

 

“Zack, can I speak to you for a minute please,” Trini suddenly said, standing up.

 

“But I’m still eating,” Zack protested, motioning to his half-eaten sandwich.

 

“Now,” Trini said tugging on his jacket before rushing out of the canteen with Zack hurrying after her. Kim watched her go, a frown tugging at her lips. A loud groan escaped her as she banged her head against the metal table.

 

“What was all that about?” Jason asked her but Kim just groaned louder in response.

 

“Kim here, as a huge crush on Trini. And I mean huge,” Tommy told them, and Kim didn’t have to look up to see the shit-eating grin on her face.

 

“Are they going out?” Billy asked, and Kim just groaned louder. God, she wishes they were going out, “Is that a no?”

 

Eventually, Kim lifted her head up to answer, “Yeah Billy that’s a no. I just don’t know whether to ask her out or not.”

 

“Why?” Jason asked, his eyebrows scrunched together. He had leaned forward and folded his arms on the table, that it reminded Kim of having a conversation with her Mom.

 

“Because,” She faltered for a second, wondering whether she could tell them all the truth. She glanced at their faces, each of them looked so concerned and patient with her that Kim actually wanted to tell them everything, “Trini’s going through so much already and I don’t want to add to that, and I don’t want to mess everything up.”

 

Jason’s eyes softened, “I understand, but Kim, you’re not going to ruin this… friendship. It’s obvious you care about Trini a lot, and I know this isn’t something you’re going to mess up,” Jason offered her, and Billy nodded along encouragingly, “I mean we’ve all seen the way you look at her.”

 

“It’s disgustingly adorable,” Tommy said, “I know that if you don’t try, you’ll regret doing nothing for the rest of your life.”

 

“I don’t know how to ask her out, I’ve never done the asking out before,” Kim threw her hands into the air dramatically, huffing.

 

“Romance her,” Billy said, “Me and my Mom watch loads of romance films where the guy has to get the girl, or in this case, it’ll be the girl getting the girl. There are loads of ways you can try, running through an airport at last minute, hold a boom box playing music to their window in night, sing to her in the middle of school-”

 

“Thanks, Billy,” Kim said sincerely if she didn’t interrupt him then who knows how long he’ll be able to go on talking about romantic gestures. She actually felt a little queasy at the thought of it all, “I’ll figure something out.”

 

Billy beamed at her, “Trini doesn’t like flowers though. Don’t get her flowers.”

 

“And maybe don’t do something too public either,” Jason offered, “Trini doesn’t like everyone knowing things about her.”

 

“And you should do it spontaneously, if you plan it and leave it too long Trini will get suspicious and figure it out.” Her head moved back and forth between Billy and Jason as they told her things that she already knew about Trini, but she was grateful for their help. It felt like she had two supportive dads helping her get the girl.

 

“But do you have the courage to get your girl?” Tommy asked her. And there was the annoying younger sister.

 

She scowled at her, “Of course I’ve got the courage.”

 

“Then go get your girl,” Tommy cried, a grin on her face that Kim couldn’t help but copy. She had no clue what she was going to do, but she had to do something. Talking to Trini always helped her figure out her thoughts, and Kim clearly couldn’t go on keeping this one a secret.

 

* * *

 

Sitting crossed leg on her bed, Trini absentmindedly twirled the green power coin in her hand as her yellow one rested on her leg. The green coin buzzed with an unknown energy that terrified her, but she was unable to let it go. She was drawn to it somehow and she hated it. Her sleeping pattern was all over the place right now, some nights Rita would invade her mind and other’s she would let Trini sleep. The surprise of it all was the worst thing, that and she couldn’t decide whether it was real or not.

 

Her mind kept going to the conversation she had with Zack after her escape from the canteen. She had to get away from Kim fast before she did something stupid like kiss her. Sure, she had some feelings that were buried deep down that Trini had practically forgotten about them since they had first met but only recently had they slowly started to climb to the surface and Trini didn’t know what to do about it.

 

Does she take the plunge and tell Kim that she likes her because she was certain that Kim liked her back. Or does she take it slow because she had this stupid green power coin that she kept secret? The decision was awful, and the longer she spent around Kim the harder it was to do anything then take the plunge.

 

She felt a hand ghost over her shoulder and she shuddered at the contact. “Miss me Yellow?” Rita’s voice whispered in her ear and Trini flinched away.

 

“How are you here?” She asked, her voice shaking.

 

“Don’t you feel it?” Rita laid on the bed beside her, raking her nails down Trini’s arm, “You’re getting weaker, and I’m getting stronger. Soon, I’ll be here all the time.”

 

She scoffed, trying to keep up the composure that she wasn’t as shaken up as she actually was, “Yeah good look with that.”

 

She heard cursing outside her window, and Trini’s heart did an unnaturally flip. As much as loved seeing Kim, right now was probably the worst time. Rita was still here, bouncing over to the window with a malicious grin.

 

“Kimmy! How exciting!” Trini just about managed to shove the green power coin in her pocket just as Kim’s face popped into her window. Fortunately, she couldn’t see Rita as Kim’s gaze was focused on nothing but her.

 

“Hey,” She said breathlessly, “Sorry for just popping in.” Trini watched as Kim struggled to climb through her window with her hands full.

 

“Do you need a hand?”

 

“Nope, I got it,” Kim slid through, in a very ungraceful manner that she was thankful that her parents were at her brother’s recital. Kim stood up, and smiled a charming smile as she presented a dented box of Krispy Kreme and a tiny cactus, “For you.”

 

“For me?” Trini couldn’t help but smile as she took the box of doughnuts and the cactus from Kim. It was an odd set of presents to give to a person but Trini thought it was adorable, right now she thought Kim was adorable. She didn’t have to look to know that it was a box full of her favorites, “What’s the occasion?”

 

“I didn’t realize I needed an occasion to give my favorite girl presents,” Kim answered, and Trini smiled bashfully, “I did want to talk to you though.” Kim fiddled with her fingers, showing how nervous she was.

 

“Ooh, Trini. I think we both know what she’s about to say,” Rita spoke up, and Trini tried her best to ignore her. She really did.

 

“What do you want to talk about?”

 

“This is really hard for me to say, and I’ve spent so long trying to tell myself that I shouldn’t do this but if I don’t I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,” Kim paused, and Trini didn’t have the heart to interrupt. Rita stood directly behind Kim and Trini felt the panic set in. She knows what Rita is capable of now, she has the scratches to prove it, so she was terrified of what she could do to Kim.

 

“But I like you, and not just as friends. I really like you, I think I’ve liked you for as long as I’ve known you and I’ve only realized it now,” Trini was still holding onto the doughnuts and the cactus like an idiot, but it was the only thing keeping her from leaping into Kim’s arms right now, “And I would really like to ask you out.”

 

She left the words hanging in the air and it was time for Trini to talk, “Kimmy has feelings,” Rita spoke up, cackling, “This is exciting, I’m sure you want to kiss her right now. You want to tell her how much you love her, but I won’t let you,” Rita hissed, and Trini thought she was suffocating, “Tell her you’re not interested or she dies. And I promise you it won’t be a peaceful death.”

 

Kim’s hopeful smile faltered and Trini choked on a sob, she didn’t want to do this. But she had to if she wanted to protect Kim.

 

“I’m sorry,” She said softly, unable to look at the devastated look on Kim’s face, “I just don’t like you like that.”

 

“Oh,” It was barely audible and it broke Trini’s heart to hear.

 

“We can still be friends though?” The question was hopeful, and she would completely understand if Kim wanted nothing more to do with her.

 

“Yeah, of course,” Kim was barely able to hold back the tears, “I’m just going to go.”

 

“Kim,” Trini tried to call out but it was useless. Kim jumped out of her window and into the night.

 

“Good little pet,” Rita cooed in her ear, running a finger along her cheek, “Now you’re all mine.”

 

Trini finally cried, the box of doughnuts and the cactus fell to the floor as her sobs became hysterical. She collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t know how much longer she could put up this fight. Rita was slowly winning, and she was terrified of what would happen when she finally took over.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim tries to cope with her broken heart and Trini is slowly losing the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to apologise with this chapter because it's not the best I could have done but I wanted to upload something for you all. So I really hope you like it :)

Kim walked up to the secluded spot in the mountains where she met Tommy for their training. She had avoided everyone on the Thursday during school, saying that she needed to finish an English assignment, which was true. The full truth, however, was that she couldn’t be around Trini, not after last night. She had told the other girl that they could still be friends and Kim couldn’t do that when she still had feelings for Trini. She just needed time to get over this crush and they would be back to normal. Kim didn’t focus on the fact that she was sure her heart had broken.

 

Tommy was already there doing some light stretches, but when she saw Kim she bounced over to her with a grin, “So?”

 

Kim didn’t say anything, just chucked her water bottle next to Tommy’s and got into sparring position. She couldn’t decide whether she was sad or angry, all Kim did know was this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that would only disappear with some unhealthy coping methods, punching and drinking. One thing she could settle for was that she was heartbroken, and she wasn’t fully sure whether this would heal or not. Tommy frowned, no saying anything as stood opposite Kim a little more cautious than usual.

 

“Are you sure we should be training now?” Tommy asked. Kim knew she was offering for Kim to talk about it, but that was the last thing that she wanted.

 

“I’m fine,” She hissed, clearly, she wasn’t fine, “Do you want to train or not?” Kim wasn’t really asking, and as soon as Tommy raised her fists she charged forward surprising the other girl. She swung punch after vicious punch, not noticing that Tommy was barely dodging them. Kim swung her leg to kick Tommy’s head, but she grabbed her ankle and pulled it towards her.

 

“I’m sorry Kim,” Tommy tried to say as she side stepped another one of Kim’s attacks, “I pressured you into it. I just really thought-” She was interrupted by a loud groan as Kim swept her legs from under her, a cold glare on her face. She did not want to talk about it.

 

“Tommy stop,” She warned as Tommy struggled to her feet. If Kim’s head was clearer, she would feel bad about how hard she was pushing Tommy today. Although the girl was good it was obvious that she still didn’t have as much training as Kim.

 

“I just want to help,” Tommy quickly ducked, “You’re clearly not okay.”

 

Kim growled, and this time Tommy was too slow to block her face and Kim punched her squarely in the face. Tommy swore, her hands going up to cover her now bleeding nose. Realizing what she had down, Kim immediately dropped her fists, breathing heavily. Her eyes widen as Tommy kneeled on the floor.

 

‘Shit, Tommy I’m so sorry,” Kim started to say, as she collapsed next to the girl. Tommy waved off her apology bit Kimberly still continued to ramble, “I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to hit you. Shit, is it broken?”

 

“It’s cool,” Tommy gurgled, “I don’t think so.” They sat there in silence as Tommy tried to wipe away the blood.  Kim needed to sort her emotions out, there was no reason for her to take all her aggravation out on Tommy when the girl was only here to help. As of now, Tommy was the only person she could be around right now. Zack would no doubt make sure Trini is and Kim is okay with that. Jason would give her those looks of pity that she can’t stand, and she doesn’t want to put Billy in the situation where he has to choose between them. Right now, Trini needs the boys more than she does. Even though she might be heartbroken, there was something going on with Trini that the girl is keeping hidden. Kim can see the occasional forced smile and the look of exhaustion constantly on her face. Kim had Tommy and that would just have to be enough until Kim no longer has feelings for Trini.

 

“I told Trini last night,” Kim spoke up, knowing she had to talk about it eventually, “I showed up to her room with donuts and a cactus, her favorite things and I told her everything I felt her for her… And she rejected me.”

 

“That sucks,” Tommy said and Kim agreed, “I really thought she liked you.”

 

“Yeah, I did too,” Kim repeated solemnly, hanging her head.

 

“I have a really stupid idea,” Tommy said, a mischievous smile on her face and Kim already knew she was going to agree to anything Tommy suggested, “I hear the best way to get over a broken heart is to drink your sorrows away.”

 

Kim felt herself mirroring Tommy’s grin, “That’s a brilliant idea, one problem neither of us are old enough to buy any.”

 

“Give me thirty minutes to run home and get some,” Tommy was already standing up before Kim could give a response, “I’m certain my Dad won’t miss some. I’ll meet you here.”

 

She nodded, watching as Tommy sprinted off using her Ranger speed to get her their faster. Zordon would disapprove if he knew and end up giving Tommy a lecture on the proper use of their powers. The thought of it brought a small smile to Kim’s lips, but it soon disappeared. It had been less than a day since she had last talked to Trini but she felt the desperate urge to do just that. But what would she say? She would say nothing appropriate.

 

Even so, she felt her phone in her palm and found herself staring at her recent messages between her and Trini. A couple of x’s at the end of each message felt like a small stab in the chest and Kim couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten Trini wrong. They had almost kissed, Trini’s face heated up when Kim kissed her cheek and she felt the way Trini relaxed into her whenever they hugged. She couldn’t have made all that up, not when other’s thought the same as her.

 

Before she had any more time to dwell on it, Tommy returned, arms filled with full bottles of alcohol. Vodka, whiskey, a couple of bottles of beer, Kim didn’t ask. There was an excited grin on Tommy’s face as she placed the bottles in front of Kim, and she needed this right now.

 

“Do you just want to stay here?” Kim suggested. Her house maybe empty but she didn’t want to go there, here they were secluded and nobody knew where there were. Tommy nodded, handing over the bottle of vodka. Kim took it off her and unscrewed the cap.

 

Tommy lifted up the bottle of whiskey as some sort of toast, “To our crappy life,”

 

Kim chuckled and lifted up her own bottle in response and may it only get shittier,” they both took a giant swig from their bottles, and Kim coughed a little at the taste.

 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you this,” Tommy said, taking a quick pause to a sip of the whiskey, “But I hate the color green.”

 

Kim knew what she was doing, making random conversations to get Kim’s mind away from Trini. The effort was appreciated, and Kim smiled slightly, “What is your favorite color then?”

 

“Red actually, but I feel as if that color is taken already.” They continued like that until the bottles were half empty and Kim was very drunk. Her words were now coming out slurred and she felt lighter then she had done in a long while.

 

“You knocked a guy’s tooth out?” Tommy asked, her eyes glazed over and grip loose on the almost empty whiskey bottle.

 

Kim nodded as she took another sip, “They put it back.”

 

“That’s so cool! I want to do that.”

 

“It’s not as cool as you think, it got me in Saturday detentions. My parents were not happy,” Kim couldn’t help but frown. After that and no longer being a cheerleader, Kim’s parents hadn’t been happy with her for a long while. Most of the time it didn’t bother her, they were barely ever home and when they were Kim made sure she wasn’t. She refused to be in their presence and see their looks of disappointment. Yet, there is the occasional moment where Kim really misses the parents that she used to have. The ones that promised to love her unconditional, but apparently that only applies if she’s popular and friendly with all the other rich kids.

 

“My Dad wouldn’t care,” Tommy started to say and Kim realized this is something the other girl would never talk about if she was sober, “He never picks up the phone anymore unless it’s his boss or his drinking buddy Doug. I could probably tell him that I was now a superhero and he would never remember it. Like he won’t remember a couple of these bottles missing.”

 

Kim didn’t know what to say, the alcohol slowed her mind and when she finally opened her mouth to say something Tommy beat her to it, “You don’t have to say anything it’s fine, well it’s not but I’m dealing okay. That’s why I really want to become a good Power Ranger like the rest of you. I want to help people, and do good for other’s instead of being a selfish prick.” She didn’t respond, instead watched as Tommy drank half of what was left of the whiskey. Maybe they both needed this drink.

 

“You can have my spot then,” She said, and Tommy quickly shook her head.

 

“No, we’re a team,” Tommy protested, swinging her arms in the air, “It can’t be done without you and your wings.”

 

“I never wanted to be a Power Ranger. I’m not good at saving people. They don’t deserve to be saved,” She paused to take a large sip from the vodka, “Except Trini.”

 

“Trini?”

 

“Yes, Trini deserves everything. I wouldn’t have been good for her.”

 

“Who says that?”

 

“I do,” Kim whispered, “I wouldn’t be able to give her everything. She deserves so much more than me.” The conversation turned to silence as they each decided to continue drinking until their bottles were empty.

 

“See,” Tommy cried out, the empty bottle flying from her hand and landed somewhere where Kim couldn’t see, “This is why I don’t do love of those sort of feelings.”

 

“That sounds peaceful,” She was definitely drunk, but she wasn’t as drunk as anybody normal would be after drinking an entire bottle of vodka, “How do you do it?”

 

“I just don’t have those feelings, to begin with,” Tommy shrugged before picking up one of the bottles of beer, “You need to get over Trini.”

 

“I know.”

 

“How are you gonna do it?”

 

“I don’t know. Got some ideas?” Tommy shook her head and Kim sighed, “I’m screwed.” She cried out dramatically, “She’s my best friend. It can’t be that hard to try and go back to that.”

 

“It’s easier if you stop thinking about how much you want to kiss her all the time.”

 

“But I do want to kiss her,” Kim groaned, throwing her face into her hands, “I can’t stop thinking about it till it happens.”

 

“Kiss somebody else?” Tommy offered, and Kim tried to avoid pulling a face at the idea. She couldn’t’ imagine kissing anybody else for the rest of her life but Trini.

 

“You offering?” Kim joked, easily catching one of the beer bottles that Tommy threw at her.

 

“Not me you idiot.” She huffed, “You no longer deserve my help on trying to get over Trini.”

 

“I don’t want to get over her,” Kim mumbled, “I want to be with her and kiss her and love her.”

 

“That sort of defeats the purpose of trying to get over her.”

 

“I think I love her,” Kim said more to herself then the girl opposite her, “I think I’m in love with Trini.”

 

“Good for you Kim,” Tommy raised her beer, grinning like a fool.

 

“And if she doesn’t love me back then it’s cool,” Kim frowned for a minute, the amount of alcohol that she had drunk was not helping her brain think properly, “I think something’s wrong with Trini.”

 

“Wrong? Like what?”

 

“I don’t know, but I know something’s wrong,” Kim chugged what was left of her beer, “And even if she doesn’t love me then I’m going to protect her. Gonna do whatever it takes. You with me?”

 

Tommy mocked saluted, “Until the end Kim.” They burst out into a fit of giggles, and Tommy drank what was left of the beers before lying down on the dirt, softly singing something that sounded oddly like a nursery rhyme. Kim didn’t want to interrupt. Instead, she did what a drunk person should never do, she pulled her phone back out of her pocket and unlocked it. Those damn x’s were back and before she knew it, she was typing something out.

 

**Kim:** I tink I looove uuuu

 

* * *

 

 

Trini was almost certain she had never felt this empty before. She had woken up this morning, completely exhausted, with one goal in mind. Apologise to Kim and then go back to how they were before like nothing had happened. But then she didn’t see Kim all day, and she knew the reason why. Trini’s heart shattered even more, and she was left feeling hollow. She can’t blame Kim for any of this. She had done nothing wrong. It was all Trini’s fault. She was too damn weak.

 

She avoided Jason’s questioning stares, and she was grateful that Billy didn’t say anything. Fortunately, Zack wasn’t in school today. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to explain to him why one minute she was freaking out and gushing about Kimberly to then rejecting her when Kim actually asked her out. If Trini was lucky, she would be attempting to avoid that particular conversation with him.

 

Each time Trini pulled her phone out to text Kim anything, it was as if the green coin that followed her around began to burn, and with trembling hands, she shoved her phone away. It’d be easier for Kim to come to her. She had been the one to break the girl's heart, it wouldn’t be fair on Kim for Trini to pretend like nothing had happened.

 

Trini trudged up the drive way to her house, resisting the urge to go to Kimberly like she usually would and instead walked into her home. The first thing she noticed, that was no there when she left this morning was the small rainbow flag right next to the American flag that lived there. The more she stared at it, she felt her eyes began to tear up. She knew exactly what this meant, and when her Mom showed up in the hallway a cloth in her hand, Trini couldn’t resist hugging her. Her Mom stood still for a brief moment before her arms wrapped tightly around her. This was the first time they had hugged in years, and both of them missed the contact.

 

“Thank you,” Trini whispered, and her Mom hugged her tighter.

 

“I love you, I never want you to forget that.” Her Mom said, her words meaning more than Trini would ever have imagined. Eventually, they stepped away from one another and Trini hastily wiped at her eyes a small smile graced her lips when she noticed her Mom do the same thing, “I was thinking about ordering pizza tonight, your Dad’s working late at the station and the boys requested it.”

 

“Save me some? I promised Billy I’ll meet him at his house to do some Chemistry homework,” Trini said, only half lying. She was going to go to Billy’s house but not for homework, he wanted a second opinion on the energy that he found near the drop ship and Trini was the one that offered. It was during that moment she found the Green coin and the two had to be connected. She’s hoping to get some sort of answers, and focusing on this helped her keep her mind away from Kimberly.

 

“Don’t come back to late,” Her Mom said, making her way back into the kitchen. Trini took one last sparring glance at the rainbow flag, before hurrying up to her bedroom. Being in her house was a lot easier now that her Mom was more accepting and understanding, but it was practically impossible to feel safe in her room now that Rita seemed to be haunting her there.

 

She didn’t spend a lot of time in the room, she dumped her bag on the end of the bed and quickly escaped the house as a whole. It wouldn’t take her long to get to Billy’s and usually, she enjoyed the walk. Except for this time, all she’ll be thinking about is Kimberly, and how beautiful she always was, inside and out. It took her a while but she finally realized how deep her feelings were for the other girl, but by that point, it was too late. The only way to protect Kim was to reject her, and she just hoped that she didn’t cause Kim too much pain. But if she was being truthful to herself, she knew how badly she had hurt Kim. She could see it clearly in the other girl’s eyes. Trini shook her head, she couldn’t focus on that right now. The faster she figures out how to get rid of Rita, Trini will then be free to explain to Kim exactly what happened and maybe if she hadn’t lost her chance already then maybe they could become something more.

 

She knocked three times on Billy’s door when she arrived at his house, and she was slightly surprised that it was Billy that answered the door, not his Mom, “Trini, hey.” He said, after opening the door wide enough for Billy to step through, “My Mom is out shopping but she left us snacks, they’re down stairs. I’m glad you’re here to help me with this. Jason tries to help but mainly he just gets in the way and last time Zack helped me he just broke it.”

 

“Yeah, sounds like something Zack would do,” Trini agreed, closing the door behind her and began to follow Billy downstairs, “I don’t mind helping you at all. Anytime you need help just ask.”

 

“You understand it a lot better than the boys do,” Billy told her, “I would ask Kim but I haven’t seen her the entire day which is weird. She seemed good after lunch yesterday when she decided to talk to you. How did that go? Kim seemed quite excited about it.”

 

Trini knew her face had paled at what Billy had said. She shouldn’t be surprised that the boy asked this, and she really couldn’t avoid answering the questions, but maybe she could avoid giving him the full answer, “She asked me out but I said no, I’m really not in the right place for a relationship right now. I just need time to adjust to everyone suddenly knowing about my sexuality.”

 

Billy nodded accepting her answer, “I understand, I hope eventually you and Kim get together.”

 

“Me too, Billy,” Trini whispered, taking a seat on one of Billy’s spare chair, “Me too.” Her eyes followed Billy as he maneuvered around the room, explaining to her what he had already discovered and the science behind it. She understood the majority of what he was saying and nodded along at the appropriate moments.

 

“I’ve come to the conclusion that the energy is definitely alien, unfortunately, the only alien energy sample I have to compare it to is one from the dropship,” Billy grabbed two photos and handed them to Trini, “And look.”

 

“They look exactly the same,” Trini mumbled looking at the pair of wavy lines.

 

“Look closer,” She did what Billy said and stared more closely at the two photos. At a quick glance, they could easily be mistaken as the same picture printed twice but at closer inspection, they were slight differences. A couple of the waves were higher, and a few were slightly thinner.

 

“It must be something to do with the Power Rangers,” Trini whispered, but the word that neither of them dared to talk about hung in the air between them. Her hand shook as she handed Billy back the photos. It made sense now, they had walked straight into Rita’s trap like idiots. Rita knew that Billy wouldn’t be able to resist investigating a strange occurrence and one of them would find the coin, it was just Trini’s luck that she was the one to find it.

 

“Do you have nightmares?” Billy asked and Trini nodded, not trusting her voice, “I do too, mine have been getting worse since we found the energy. Have yours?”

 

“They have,” She said, she couldn’t tell him about the coin. That was her burden alone to bare and she could handle it, “You don’t think it’s because of Rita, do you?”

 

“It could be,” Billy said, frowning, “It would make sense that Rita’s energy is affecting us the most. She attacked you and killed me. I really hope it isn’t her though.”

 

Trini agreed with him, despite the fact that she knew that it was. It’s better if Billy doubts, he would be safer then knowing the full truth, “Do you have any projects?” She asked trying to get the attention away from Rita and the energy.

 

Billy’s eyes lit up as he rushed over to his bench and picked up what looked like a remote control, “I’ve been trying to make this. It’s a device that will hopefully be powerful enough to remove Rita’s energy in the dropship for good.”

 

Her eye’s widened slightly in surprise, “Do you actually think you’ll be able to make something like that?”

 

“I hope so, I think in time and with some help from Alpha-5 I’ll be able to get it working,” Billy told her and Trini reached out to run her fingers along the metal when suddenly a sickness washed over her.

 

_Destroy it._

_Destroy him._

_I did it before Trini, many times. Once you get the feeling of killing another Ranger you don’t want to stop._

Trini’s face paled and she shook her head, trying to get rid of Rita’s voice.

 

_I killed Blue before, let’s see how many lives he has left._

_Then It can be you and me._

_You won’t need Kimmy anymore._

“No… no…. no…” Trini mumbled, tearing her hand away from Billy’s device.

 

_Do it!_

“Trini?”

 

_Kill him Yellow!_

“Trini?”

 

_NOW!_

“Trini!” A hand touched her arm, and Trini’s eyes blinked and the voice was now gone, but the words still hung in her mind and she took a step away from Billy, “Your phone was vibrating.” He looked concerned and wanted to ask her a question, one that Trini wouldn’t be able to answer.

 

“I’ve got to go,” Trini mumbled before racing out of the house, terrified that Rita would take control of her body and hurt Billy. Rita was getting stronger and it would only be a matter of time before she took full control and who knows how many people would she hurt. Trini wouldn’t be able to cope with that if it happens. Trini would rather die than let that happen.

 

Once she was out of Billy’s house and halfway down the street did she begin to slow down and pull the phone out of her pocket, thinking it was just a text from her Mom. Her heart plummeted when she realized it was a text from Kim.

 

**Kim:** I tink I looove uuuu

 

She was drunk and heartbroken and Trini felt some of the fight leave her body with the knowledge that she had the girl that she might possibly love so badly.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review :D and I'll see you all in the next one.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I made a Tumblr, the-devil-in-space :D


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